The Federal Authorities has spent about N1.4bn for the rehabilitation of repentant terrorists and the institution of centres for terrorism trials within the final one yr and 6 months, Sunday PUNCH stories.
The Federal Authorities established the Nationwide Counter-Terrorism Centre following former President Muhammadu Buhari’s assent to the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Invoice on Could 12, 2022.
In December 2022, the federal government introduced its resolution to determine two disarmament, deradicalisation, rehabilitation, and reintegration centres for repentant members of Boko Haram and different terrorist teams within the nation.
The Coordinator of the Nationwide Counter Terrorism Centre, Rear Admiral Yem Musa (retd.), disclosed to the Home of Representatives Committee on Nationwide Safety and Intelligence that the federal government would spend N2.4bn on the centres as a part of the NCTC’s N3.8bn capital tasks for 2023.
Nevertheless, checks by one in all our correspondents utilizing GovSpend, a civic tech platform that tracks and analyses the Federal Authorities’s spending, revealed that between December 2022 and Could 2024, the Ministry of Justice spent a complete of N1.4bn on setting up rehabilitation centres for repentant terrorists and renovating an deserted constructing for terrorism case trials.
On March 27, 2023, the Federal Ministry of Justice disbursed N612m to a few companies for the renovation and furnishing of deserted buildings for terrorism case trials and the development of dormitories for the rehabilitation of repentant terrorists below Operation Secure Hall.
The primary fee of N286.7m was transferred to a agency, El-haby Idea Restricted, for the renovation and furnishing of deserted constructing for terrorism case trials at Giwa Barracks, as permitted by the Secretary to the Authorities of the Federation on March 21, 2023.
The second fee of N21.5m was made to Interprise Restricted as consultancy charges for designing and supervising the constructing of services for repentant terrorists on the OSC. The remaining N303.7m was launched to Fosab World Power Service Restricted as a further 40% fee for setting up the rehabilitation centre.
In 2024, the ministry paid three companies a complete of N179m for related tasks. The primary fee of N11.5m was wired to Jayjaysen Built-in Hyperlinks Ltd on March 22, 2024, for the provision of desktop computer systems and LaserJet printers/toners to facilitate terrorism case prosecutions, as permitted by the SGF on December 1, 2023.
One other N16.4m was transferred to Estergel Ltd on April 8, 2024, for procuring computer systems and equipment for a similar objective, as permitted by the SGF on December 18, 2023. Lastly, N151.8m was paid to Fosab World Power Service Ltd on Could 3, 2024, as a part of fee for setting up the rehabilitation centre.
Secret trials of terrorists
In the meantime, on December 15, the NCTC disclosed in an announcement that it had secured the conviction of no fewer than 325 terrorists in its Part 5 and Part 6 trials on the Kainji Detention Facility.
The centre famous that the terrorists acquired varied sentences starting from the dying penalty to life imprisonment and phrases of 20 to 70 years, relying on the severity of the crimes dedicated by the suspects.
Within the Part 5 trial, performed in July 2024, about 143 instances had been heard, resulting in 125 convictions. In Part 6, 237 instances had been heard, with 200 convictions secured on the similar venue. Nevertheless, the federal government has since remained silent on when the Part 7 trials will start.
When Sunday PUNCH reached out to the Workplace of the Lawyer Basic of the Federation and Minister of Justice to determine why the trials had been performed secretly, our correspondent acquired no response.
Some safety consultants and civil society organisations expressed divergent opinions on the secretive nature of the terrorism trials.
A safety professional, Lekan Jackson-Ojo, mentioned secret trials lacked authenticity.
“When politicians, armed robbers, or the so-called Yahoo boys commit offences, the press is allowed to report on it, and your complete world is aware of about it. However why are we making an attempt these enemies of humanity, enemies of God—the Satanists—in secrecy?
“For over 20 years, members of the Boko Haram terrorist group have been in Nigeria, killing hundreds of individuals and rendering tens of millions homeless. What number of of those folks have been sentenced to life imprisonment?” he queried.
Chidi Omeje, one other safety professional, additionally condemned the key trials, saying, “Why would they conduct secret trials? Does it imply the army, for instance, is making an attempt to guard these terrorists who’re additionally killing their personnel?”
“The terrorists have killed numerous army officers. So, why would the army take part in any motion to protect their prosecution? I believe it has to do with procedural points as a result of they’re coping with so many arrested terrorists,” he added.
Nevertheless, one other safety professional, Kabir Adamu, argued that the federal government’s resolution to conduct secret trials was justified for safety causes.
He mentioned, “It is vitally commendable that this administration has prioritised the trial of suspects, particularly these going through terrorism-related costs and who’ve been in detention for a really very long time, some for greater than a decade. Nevertheless, these trials have to be performed based on commonplace procedures to make sure transparency and compliance with the rule of legislation.”