The Nigerian Army has denied media reports that the force secretly handed over 1009 Boko Haram fighters to Borno state government.
The Nigerian Army in a statement issued on Thursday 15th July 2021, by the Director Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, said the 1009 Boko Haram members released were cleared suspects, and not ex-fighters as being reported by the media.
He said the 1009 Boko Haram suspects were released after being cleared by experts from the Joint Investigation Centre (JIC) before being reintegrated into the society
Nwachukwu said: “It is an indisputable fact that the ongoing Counter Terrorism Counter Insurgency Operations (CTCOIN) in the North East has led to the arrest of several terrorism/insurgency suspects.
“These suspects have been held in custody, while undergoing profiling and further investigations by experts from the Joint Investigation Centre (JIC) and those who are found culpable are usually handed over to prosecuting agencies accordingly, while those who are not implicated in terrorism and insurgency are cleared and released to the state government for rehabilitation before they are reintegrated into the society.
“These cleared suspects are therefore not ex Boko Haram fighters, as peddled in the said online report and as the masterminds would want to impress on the public. A total of 1009 cleared suspects, not ex-fighters, were therefore released after this rigorous process on Wednesday 14 July 2021.
“It is also necessary to categorically state that the handing over of the cleared suspects was not shrouded in secrecy as it was witnessed by United Nations Humanitarian and government agencies, in tandem with global best practice.”