The Nigerian government has announced that the second phase of the trial of Boko Haram terror suspects being held in a military facility at Kainji, Niger State and other military facilities will resume in military facilities in March this year.
This was made known by the Solicitor-General of the Federation, and Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Justice, Mrs Beatrice Jedy-Agba, on Sunday while speaking to journalists in Abuja.
Jedy-Agba said extensive plans and preparations have advanced for the resumption of the trial.
The Punch quoted Jedy-Agba as saying, “The Federal Government is taking steps to reconfigure the military holding facilities to make it adaptable and conducive for recommencement of trials.
“We will start the prosecution by the end of the first quarter of 2023. We are in the process of renovating and, in fact, reconstructing facilities such as the courtrooms and residential areas.
“It is important to ensure that there are enhanced measures put in place. We are utilising military facilities and therefore, they were not built like proper courts.
“The resort to the use of military facilities is to ensure that trials are conducted in a safe and secure environment. There are risks associated with moving such a large number of accused persons at the same time for trial, so this is one critical issue that is of utmost concern.”
According to the report, the Federal Ministry of Justice recently acknowledged the special intervention granted by President Muhammadu Buhari for the provision of funds and other logistics for the commencement of the exercise.
Jedy-Agba explained that the trial, which has been done in phases, was temporarily halted to ensure a proper investigation of the suspects and to put necessary measures in place to ensure that they were given a fair trial that would meet global standards.
She also said that the Nigerian government was committed to ensuring that justice was given to victims and survivors of terrorism to assuage their feelings and to decongest the detention facilities.
“We have secured all relevant approvals to proceed with the projects and we are working very closely with the Office of the Chief of Defence Staff and other military authorities to ensure that by the end of the first quarter of 2023, we will definitely start trials.”
Speaking further, Jedy-Agba said, “The whole idea is to ensure that while respecting the rights of the defendants, we also have to consider the sensibilities of Nigerians who have been victims of terrorism, as well as the general security of Nigerians as a whole.
“So, we will, as much as possible, ensure that the minimum human rights requirements are met. We will open the trial venue for observations of select Civil Society Organizations, as well as human rights institutions, like the National Human Rights Commission.
“We are working with the Legal Aid Council and other stakeholders to ensure that accused persons have access to justice.
“We are obviously not going to open the place up, because of security concerns. I’m sure you are aware that recently, like a few weeks ago, there was an attempt to hit the facility.
“So, obviously, it is not going to be as open as you may want because we want to ensure that the security of our judges, witnesses and interpreters are protected.”
