From: Godwin Tsa, Abuja
A Special Court set up by the Nigerian government is to commence the trial of over 1,600 suspected Boko Haram terrorist being detained in Wawa Barracks, in Kainji, Niger State, north central Nigeria.
The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) has already approved a list of prosecutors to handle the cases and the Legal Aid Council has equally released a list of lawyers to stand in for the suspects.
Beyond this, four Judges from the Federal High Court have also been drafted to sit on the cases at Kainji and dispose of them expeditiously.
The Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) as the coordinator of terrorism matters is expected to assist the court by providing the relevant detainees access to De-radicalisation programmes where necessary.
Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Salihu Isah, told Daily Sun that the special prosecutions will start with the detainees in Kainji followed closely by the disposal of the cases of the detainees in Giwa Barracks, Maiduguri until the cases are exhausted.
Isah revealed further that a team comprising representative of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Federal High Court and the Office of the AGF were dispatched to Kainji from September12 to 14, 2017 to carry out the assessment and to discuss with relevant authorities and organisation in final preparation of the all-important national assignment.