Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen. Lucky Irabor, has said the delay in the trial of terrorists, bandits, kidnappers and others for terror-related crimes is undermining efforts at curtailing security threats in the country.
Irabor spoke on the topic: Contemporary Security Environment and National Development: Efforts of the Armed Forces of Nigeria, at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) at the weekend in Lagos.
Quoting activist-lawyer Femi Falana (SAN), the CDS noted that only 359 out of the 5,359 suspected bandits, kidnappers and terrorists arrested by security forces in Northwest and Northeast zones between 2017 and 2020 have been prosecuted in court.
He also quoted the lawyer, saying the remaining 5,000 suspects were being held in prisons across the regions.
The development, Irabor said, has hindered timely punishment of criminals to serve as deterrent to others.
He said: “The processes involved in criminal investigation, trial and prosecution in Nigeria are cumbersome, hence leading to delay in the arraignment and dispensation of justice to suspected terrorists and other violent non-state actors arrested by troops and held in different correctional centres across the country.
“This has often given criminals the impetus to believe that they will not be made to account for their evil activities. The recent upsurge in attacks by terrorists on correctional centres in the country can be viewed as part of efforts by the criminals to free their colleagues who have been in detention over time.”
Irabor said the delay in the trial of such criminals was militating against military efforts at curbing security threats, thereby undermining national security and development.
On alleged Fulanisation and Islamisation of the country, the CDS stressed that nobody, including President Muhammadu Buhari, ever directed him to treat Boko Haram militants with kid gloves.
