45 Boko Haram members bag 31, 3 years jail terms
Andrew Orolua, Abuja
A Federal High Court in Kainji, Niger State on Friday, sentenced 45 members of the Boko Haram insurgents to 31 and 3 years imprisonment. The court also discharged about 468 suspects after establishing that they have no case to answer.
A statement issued in Abuja on Friday by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated that 34 cases were struck out while 28 suspects were remanded awaiting trial in Abuja and Minna respectively.
The court also ordered that the 468 discharged persons should undergo counselling and rehabilitation programmes before they will be handed over to their respective state governments.
Also at Friday’s proceedings, the court also remanded 1,669 suspects for a period of 90 days, with an order that they should be arraigned within the specified period or released unconditionally. The court further adjourned trial of other suspects to January 2018.
It is instructive to note that the conviction marks the conclusion of the first phase of the trial of suspected members of Boko Haram.
The Daily Times recalls that the Federal Government had designated some courts specially to hear matters relating to terrorism including the prosecution of Boko Haram members.
