ABUJA — Prominent human rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN, has formally written to the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), urging the immediate prosecution of 10 soldiers accused of killing three police officers in Taraba State and 400 individuals alleged to have financed terrorism in Nigeria.
In the letter, Falana, writing on behalf of a group of legal practitioners advocating for human rights and public accountability, claimed that the cases had been previously stalled under former AGF Abubakar Malami, SAN. He noted that the 10 soldiers allegedly killed the police officers in August 2019 to protect a notorious kidnapper, Bala Hamisu, also known as Wadume, and that charges against them were withdrawn under a controversial nolle prosequi application.
Falana also drew attention to a separate case involving 400 terrorism financiers, mostly currency exchange operators linked to Boko Haram. He said the suspects were arrested and investigated by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit and the Department of State Services, but prosecutions were not initiated despite judicial strikes ending in mid-2021.
The lawyer argued that timely prosecution and recovery of proceeds from these financiers would have strengthened Nigeria’s counter-insurgency efforts. He stressed that terrorism is not subject to a statute of limitations and called for the re-arrest and immediate prosecution of the soldiers and financiers to safeguard national security.
Copies of the letter were also sent to the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.
Read the letter below:
The Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation,
Federal Ministry of Justice,
Federal Secretariat,
Abuja.
REQUEST TO PROSECUTE 10 KILLER SOLDIERS AND 400 TERRORISM FINANCIERS
We are a firm of legal practitioners involved in the defence of human rights and promotion of public accountability in Nigeria.
In view of the recent declaration of the Federal Government to intensify the war on terror, we deem it fit to draw your attention to the cases of terrorism financiers that were covered up by your immediate predecessor, Mr. Abubakar Malami SAN. The facts of the grand cover-up are hereby stated below:
1.Sometime in August 2019, a gang of 10 soldiers led by an Army Captain ambushed and killed the three police officers who had arrested a notorious kidnap suspect, Bala Hamisu (a.k.a.Wadume) in Jalingo, Taraba State. The cold murder of the police officers on duty was designed to cover up the involvement of the soldiers in the several killings and illegal collection of billions of Naira as ransom by the kidnappers who had terrorized the people of Taraba State for about three years.
2.With the aid of military authorities, the police arrested and charged the suspected killer soldiers for terrorism in the Federal High Court sitting at Abuja. But in total abuse of his powers, the then Attorney- General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami SAN filed a nolle prosequi application and withdrew the charges pending against the soldiers. Thus, the charges of terrorism were struck out while the killer soldiers were discharged and shielded from prosecution without any legal or moral justification.
3.The termination of the case against the killer soldiers by Mr. Malami was a gross contravention of section 174(3) of the Constitution which provides that (3) In exercising his powers under this section, the Attorney-General of the Federation shall have regard to the public interest, the interest of justice and the need to prevent abuse of legal process.” Consequently, we demanded for the re-arrest and prosecution of the indicted soldiers. The Federal Government ignored the demand.
4.Unlike Nigeria where sponsors of terrorists and bandits were being treated with kid gloves, six Nigerians were arrested and prosecuted in the U.A.E. on November 10, 2020 for financing the Boko Haram terrorist group in Nigeria between 2015 and 2016. Two of the convicts were sentenced to prison for life while the four others received a 10-year prison sentence. The trial court found that the convicts had transferred USD $782,000 from Dubai to Nigeria for terrorist activities.
5.The successful prosecution of the financiers of Boko Haram from the U.A.E. added pressure on Nigeria’s officials in the fight against the terrorist organisation. Hence, the combined team of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit and the State Security Service conducted a discreet but detailed investigation which led to the arrest and detention of hundreds of financiers of terrorism.
6.At the end of the investigation, the report was submitted to the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation. In May 2021, Mr. Malami announced that a nationwide operation had led to the arrest of 400 suspects, primarily currency exchange operators, linked to Boko Haram financing. He promised that they would be prosecuted once the ongoing strike by judicial staff was called off. He also mentioned that approximately 800 terror suspects were going to be arraigned in court.
7.Even though the industrial action was called off a month later, Mr. Malami did not file charges in the Federal High Court against the financiers of terrorism. Thus, the dangerous suspects were shielded from prosecution in spite of the overwhelming evidence already assembled against them by the team of investigators.
8.Based on widespread criticism from civil society organizations and human rights lawyers against the desperate attempts to cover up the dangerous suspects, Mr. Malami told journalists in New York during the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2021 that the “Nigerian public will be properly and adequately informed about the investigation and prosecution process at the appropriate milestones as they unfold.” He however dismissed the public demand for naming and shaming the terrorism financiers.
9.Mr. Malami informed the foreign journalist that: “Naming and shaming of suspects is not embarked upon as a policy by the federal Government out of sheer respect the constitutional rights of Nigerians relating to presumption of innocence. It is a product of constitutionalism and the law. It is rooted in the law and the names of the suspects will accordingly be made public at the point of judicial arraignment while the shaming remains a consequence of judicial conviction. Trials are judicial process and not about media sensations.”
10.He further stated that the Federal Government, through the Complex Case Group of the Department of Public Prosecution of the Federation in the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, has reviewed over 1,000 Boko Haram Case files out of which 285 have been filed before the Federal High Court based on prima facie cases of terrorism against them. He was silent on the status of the 400 financiers of terrorism.
11.On September 25, 2021, Mr. Malami denied the allegation that the suspected sponsors of the Boko Haram terrorist group had been released. He described the report on the release as a “malicious misrepresentation” of the investigations undertaken by the government. He said his office had instead sought the continued detention of financiers by the court.
12.On February 8, 2022, Mr. Malami again assured Nigerians that the trial of some identified terrorism financiers would soon commence. He said that: “It has been a work in progress. Prima facie case seems to have been established, but proof of evidence has to be developed and eventually prosecution will take place…In a couple of weeks, these people will be charged and arraigned in court. In a number of weeks, you will have something tangible and cogent by way of prosecution.”
13.In spite of several assurances, Mr. Malami ensured that the financiers of terrorism were not prosecuted before he left office in May 2023. The powerful suspects have since regained their freedom to continue their nefarious business of funding terrorism in Nigeria. We have, however, confirmed that the case files of the 400 terrorism financiers were abandoned in the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation.
You will agree with us that if the Federal Ministry of Justice had prosecuted the indicted 400 terrorism financiers and recovered all proceeds of crime from them, the armed forces would have been in a better position to prosecute the counter-insurgency operations.
Since the offence of terrorism is not subject to a statute of limitation, we are compelled to request you to ensure the immediate arrest and prosecution of the 10 killer soldiers and the 400 terrorism financiers.
While awaiting your reply to this letter, please accept the assurances of our highest esteem and professional regards.
Yours sincerely,
FEMI FALANA, SAN
CC:NUHU RIBADU ESQ.
NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER,
The post Falana to AGF: Prosecute 10 soldiers, 400 terrorism financiers appeared first on Vanguard News.
