Army: 1,009 suspects handed over to Borno not ex-Boko Haram fighters 

The Nigerian Army says the 1,009 suspects recently handed over to the Borno state government are not former members of the Boko Haram sect. 

The army said this in reaction to some publications suggesting that those released to the government are members of the sect. 

Onyema Nwachukwu, army spokesperson, in a statement on Thursday, said after a series of investigation, the said suspects were cleared and handed over to the government. 

He also dismissed the claim that the suspects were handed over in secrecy. 

“This report is obviously one of those attempts to dampen troops’ morale and denigrate the NA, riding on the back of unsubstantiated reports and misinformation,” the statement reads. 

“While the NA would not want to join issues with the masterminds of this false narrative, it is important to set the records straight. 

“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.” 

As part of its efforts in curbing insurgency in the north-east, the army had earlier launched operation Safe Corridor, which provides for repentant Boko Haram members to be sent for rehabilitation.