National Security Adviser Babagana Monguno said Tuesday that the Federal Government has prosecuted 1,500 alleged terrorists and convicted 400 of them since 2017.
Mr Monguno said this at a conference on avoiding and fighting violent extremism hosted by Actionaid Nigeria and the Global Community Engagement and Resilience Fund (GCERF) in Abuja.
According to him, the government has continued to educate judges and prosecutors in dealing with terrorism cases, as well as establishing a case group inside the Ministry of Justice and a corps of Federal High Court judges dedicated to terrorism cases.
“Since 2017 and with the efforts of this group, Nigeria has successfully prosecuted over 1500 suspected terrorists with over 400 convictions. Recently, over 1,500 case files have been reviewed, leading to the release of some 900 persons due to insufficient evidence and the preparation of some 230 cases ready for prosecution,” he said, represented by Counter Terrorism Centre coordinator Rear Admiral Yamisu Musa.
“This shows our commitment in ensuring that our response to terrorism is not only effective but also rule of law compliant. A necessity to ensure that the people have faith in the judicial system.”
During the conference, GCERF Country Director Sarah Le Mesurier also shared that the organisation has provided a $10 million grant to the North-East to promote greater community agency to respond to local challenges.
