Seventy-five suspects have been prosecuted between 2011 and 2013 in connection with terrorism cases involving the Boko Haram Islamist sect, the Federal Government said on Thursday.
Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr Mohammed Adoke, who made the disclosure at the 2013 Ministerial Platform in Abuja, said that 16 of the cases had been concluded with eight ending in convictions while 35 were struck out.
Adoke revealed that a total of 244 general offences, including culpable homicide, rape, armed robbery and traffic offences were prosecuted by the ministry within the same period.
“During the period under review, a total number of 75 cases of terrorism and Boko Haram insurgency were received and prosecuted,” he said. “Sixteen of the cases have been concluded with eight convictions, while 35 were struck out. A good number of the terrorism cases were struck out because the accused persons had escaped during the attack on prisons in Bauchi and Maiduguri.
He assured that terror suspects would be arraigned as soon as they are apprehended, while also saying the ministry had succeeded in saving the government more than N 501bn from court cases won by government.
“The ministry was able to conclude over 86 matters in the domestic court with others pending before the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice,” he added “Most of these cases concluded were in favour of the Government and the ministry was able to save government the sum of N501, 278,765,770.“
He also spoke on the progress of the ministry of justice with coming up with a comprehensive National Anti-Corruption strategy, saying collaborative efforts with relevant ministries, departments and agencies were ongoing towards negotiation of nine Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements.
