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Malami denies release of Boko Haram sponsors

NIGERIA’S Attorney-General Abubakar Malami has denied releasing suspected sponsors of the Boko Haram terrorist group.

The Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations, Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Umar Gwandu, disclosed this on Friday.

He described the report on the release as a “malicious misrepresentation” of the investigations undertaken by the government.

He said the Office of the Attorney General has instead sought the continued detention of financiers in custody.

“This, by implication, established that the matter is effectively submitted to the jurisdiction of the court,” he said.



Malami said his office could only take further action on the case through the proper judicial process.

“The question then arising from the claim of the report is this: When was an application filed in Court by the office of the attorney general by which the release of the purported suspects was procured?




     

     

    “It amounts to approbation and reprobation for the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation to, in one breath, obtain an order seeking for the continued detention of the alleged financiers of Boko Haram and at the same time having them released,” he said.

    He stated that there would have been no need to obtain a court order for the continued detention of the suspects if there had been an intention to release them.

    “One needs to know by which communication or correspondence or application was their release procures since the matter is already pending before the court of Law, and they were taken to custody on account of Court order.”

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    The press reported two days ago that over 300 suspected terror sponsors, arrested by the Nigerian government earlier this year, had been released.

    Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via vopara@icirnigeria.org or @ije_le on Twitter.

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