Nigeria convicts 386 Islamist militants in mass trials
Nigeria has convicted nearly 400 Islamist militants following mass trials held this week in the capital Abuja, the country’s Attorney General said late on Friday.
The prosecutions, which began on Tuesday, are part of a series of trials involving Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) suspects that started in 2017 with more than 2,000 defendants.
Lateef Fagbemi, Nigeria’s Attorney General, said more than 500 cases were presented to the Federal High Court during the latest proceedings.
“We brought 508 cases to the court and out of this number, we were able to secure 386 convictions, eight discharges, two acquittals and 112 cases adjourned to the next session or phase,” Fagbemi said.
Sentences ranged from five years to life imprisonment, and judges stipulated that the convicts undergo rehabilitation and deradicalisation programmes to support reintegration into society.
Boko Haram’s insurgency, launched in 2009 in the northeast of the country, has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than 2 million people, humanitarian groups say.
The group gained global notoriety for the 2014 mass abduction of schoolgirls in Chibok town in northeast Borno state.
Boko Haram and its splinter group ISWAP seek to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria and have this year increased attacks against the military.
International observers, including representatives from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Amnesty International, the Nigerian Bar Association, monitored the court proceedings to ensure fair trials, court officials said.
The next phase of the trials is expected to begin by the end of May quarter, said Fagbemi.
