<p><&sol;p>&NewLine;<div>&NewLine;<p>The <a target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;gistreel&period;com&sol;tag&sol;Nigerian-government"><strong>Nigerian government<&sol;strong><&sol;a> has spent approximately ₦1&period;4 billion over the last 18 months on the rehabilitation of repentant terrorists and the establishment of <a target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;gistreel&period;com&sol;tag&sol;terrorism"><strong>terrorism<&sol;strong><&sol;a> trial centres&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Following the enactment of the<strong> Terrorism &lpar;Prevention and Prohibition&rpar; Bill&comma; signed into law by former President Muhammadu Buhari on May 12&comma; 2022&comma; the National Counter-Terrorism Centre &lpar;NCTC&rpar;<&sol;strong> was created&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>By December 2022&comma; the government had announced plans to establish two centres for disarmament&comma; deradicalization&comma; rehabilitation&comma; and reintegration of former Boko Haram members and other terrorists&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Coordinator of the NCTC&comma; Rear Admiral Yem Musa &lpar;retd&period;&rpar;&comma; disclosed to the House of Representatives Committee on National Security and Intelligence that ₦2&period;4 billion of the ₦3&period;8 billion budgeted for the centre’s 2023 capital projects would be directed toward these facilities&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;1139242" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-1139242" style&equals;"width&colon; 818px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding&equals;"async" class&equals;"size-full wp-image-1139242" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"818" height&equals;"775" data-lazy- src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;toptechblitz&period;com&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2024&sol;12&sol;T111-11&period;jpg"&sol;><img decoding&equals;"async" class&equals;"size-full wp-image-1139242" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;toptechblitz&period;com&period;ng&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2024&sol;12&sol;T111-11&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"818" height&equals;"775" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-1139242" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Bola Tinubu<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>An investigation by <em>The PUNCH<&sol;em> using GovSpend&comma; a platform tracking federal expenditures&comma; revealed that between December 2022 and May 2024&comma; the Ministry of Justice allocated ₦1&period;4 billion to build rehabilitation centres for repentant terrorists and renovate facilities for terrorism-related trials&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>On March 27&comma; 2023&comma; ₦612 million was awarded to three companies for these projects under Operation Safe Corridor &lpar;OSC&rpar;&period; Among the allocations&comma; ₦286&period;7 million went to El-haby Concept Limited to renovate a facility at Giwa Barracks&comma; while Interprise Limited received ₦21&period;5 million for consultancy on rehabilitative infrastructure&period; Fosab Global Energy Service Limited was paid ₦303&period;7 million as part of the construction of the rehabilitation centre&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In 2024&comma; another ₦179 million was disbursed to three companies for similar initiatives&period; This included payments to Jayjaysen Integrated Links Ltd for computers and accessories to aid terrorism trials and further allocations to Fosab Global Energy Service Ltd for continued construction efforts&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The NCTC reported significant progress in prosecuting terrorists&period; During Phase 5 and Phase 6 trials at the Kainji Detention Facility&comma; 325 terrorists were convicted&comma; with penalties ranging from death sentences to prison terms of up to 70 years&comma; depending on the severity of the crimes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Phase 5 in July 2024 saw 143 cases processed&comma; leading to 125 convictions&period; Phase 6 handled 237 cases and resulted in 200 convictions&period; However&comma; the government has yet to announce plans for Phase 7 trials&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The secrecy of the trials has sparked mixed reactions&period; Security experts and civil society groups have expressed concerns&comma; arguing that such opacity undermines credibility&period; Lekan Jackson-Ojo&comma; a security expert&comma; criticized the lack of transparency&comma; questioning why these &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;enemies of humanity” are shielded from public scrutiny&period; Similarly&comma; Chidi Omeje questioned whether the military might be inadvertently protecting those responsible for attacks on their personnel&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In contrast&comma; another security expert&comma; Kabir Adamu&comma; defended the confidentiality of the trials&comma; citing national security concerns&period; He commended the administration’s prioritization of terrorism-related prosecutions while emphasizing the need for adherence to due process and transparency&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As these efforts continue&comma; stakeholders remain divided on the balance between national security and public accountability in addressing terrorism&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;p><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;gistreel&period;com&sol;&percnt;E2&percnt;82&percnt;A61-4-billion-spent-on-rehabilitation-of-repentant-boko-haram-terrorists-fg&sol;" previewlistener&equals;"true">Source link <&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;

Share.
Leave A Reply

Exit mobile version