He said the latest phase produced 791 convictions, seven acquittals, 41 discharges, four cases struck out and three withdrawn. Another 211 cases were adjourned, 11 remained pending, while one was recorded under another category.<\/p>\n
The latest convictions brought the cumulative figure from the first 11 phases to 2,512, up from 1,721 recorded in the first 10 phases.\n<\/p>\n
Laka said the trials were part of the government\u2019s efforts to hold individuals accountable for terrorism-related offences and strengthen the administration of criminal justice.\n<\/p>\n
One of the cases resulted in the conviction and death sentence of Suleiman Abu for membership of Boko Haram and participation in attacks on military facilities and civilians, which caused deaths and injuries.\n<\/p>\n
Laka said the judgment showed that individuals involved in terrorism would be held accountable where their guilt was established beyond reasonable doubt.\n<\/p>\n
He, however, stressed that the objective of the trials was not to secure convictions at all costs but to ensure that cases were determined in accordance with the law and constitutional rights.<\/p>\n
He said acquittals, discharges and other judicial outcomes were also important to ensuring fairness in the justice system.\n<\/p>\n
Beyond prosecuting individuals involved in attacks, the government is targeting those who provide financial and other support to terrorist groups.\n<\/p>\n
Zakari Mijinyawa, Director of Legal Services at the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), said the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act, 2022, provides for the prosecution of offences beyond direct participation in terrorist attacks.\n<\/p>\n
Read also:\u00a0FG urges global support for terrorism victims, survivors<\/a><\/strong>\n<\/p>\n These include preparatory offences, terrorism financing, providing support, facilitating terrorist activities and other forms of collaboration.<\/p>\n Mijinyawa said individuals and organisations could be prosecuted for knowingly supporting terrorist groups, even where such support did not directly result in an attack.\n<\/p>\n He cited the prohibition of support for terrorism, which attracts a minimum prison sentence of 20 years, as well as the offence of renting property to terrorists.\n<\/p>\n He added that companies found to have received terrorist financing could face a fine of N200 million, whether or not the funds were eventually used to commit a terrorist offence.\n<\/p>\n Mijinyawa urged Nigerians, particularly media practitioners and other stakeholders, to familiarise themselves with the law and its provisions on terrorism-related offences.\n<\/p>\n Rotimi Oyedepo, Director of Public Prosecution at the Federal Ministry of Justice, said the government would not prosecute anyone without sufficient evidence to establish a case to answer.<\/p>\n He said about 1,047 charges were filed during the latest phase, adding that cases without sufficient evidence were reviewed and recommendations made to investigating agencies.\n<\/p>\n According to him, individuals not indicted after investigations were recommended for release, rehabilitation and reintegration into society.\n<\/p>\n He said such individuals could require psychological support and community-based rehabilitation to address trauma and reduce their exposure to security risks.\n<\/p>\n Read also:\u00a0<\/strong>US delivers military equipment to NAF to boost counter-terrorism operations<\/a><\/strong>\n<\/p>\n Oyedepo said defendants were provided with legal representation, adding that the prosecution forwarded relevant information to the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria to facilitate access to lawyers.<\/p>\n He said defendants could also engage private legal practitioners, while international organisations, non-governmental organisations and diplomatic missions were invited to observe the proceedings.\n<\/p>\n He added that the judiciary independently assessed the evidence presented by prosecutors and determined whether it met the required legal threshold, in line with the constitutional right to fair hearing.\n<\/p>\n On compensation for individuals wrongly accused or whose rights were violated, Oyedepo said the Constitution provided legal remedies, including damages and apologies ordered by competent courts.\n<\/p>\n Hassan Dauda, Technical Assistant to the Director-General of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, said defendants were given opportunities to meet their lawyers before trial.\n<\/p>\n He said legal teams visited detention facilities in Kainji and Maiduguri to interview defendants and assess their cases, particularly those involving capital offences.<\/p>\n Dauda added that defendants who wished to engage private lawyers were allowed to do so through the appropriate procedures.\n<\/p>\n Laka attributed the trial outcomes to cooperation among investigative agencies, prosecutors, the judiciary, security institutions and defence counsel, as well as case preparation and evidence management.\n<\/p>\n Read also:\u00a0Nigeria\u2019s Counter-Terrorism Centre gets AU regional nod for West Africa, Sahel<\/a><\/strong>\n<\/p>\n He called for continued support for victims and survivors of terrorism through rehabilitation, psychological assistance, access to justice and the restoration of affected communities.\n<\/p>\n He also said witnesses and victims required protection against intimidation, threats and reprisals to enable them to participate in investigations and prosecutions.<\/p>\n Laka reaffirmed the government\u2019s commitment to counter-terrorism through security operations, prosecution, prevention and cooperation among relevant institutions.<\/p>\n Source: <\/p>\n Nigeria has secured 2,512 convictions in 11 phases of terrorism trials as the Federal Government expands prosecutions to individuals and organisations involved in financing, facilitating and supporting terrorist activities. The… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8145,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalnigerianews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Related News<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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