By Ato Kehinde
Lieutenant General Yahaya Faruk, COAS
The Nigerian Army (NA) has denied allegation that it has handed over 1009 Ex-Boko Haram fighters to Borno State government, saying that the report on it was unsubstantiated and a misinformation.
According to Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, Director Army Public Relations in a statement on Thursday, the 1009 suspects are non-fighters who were released after a rigorous process has established their innocence.
He said; “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.
“The NA therefore urges the general public to discountenance this misinformation, as it is evidently a manipulation and distortion of the truth and reality of the event.
