Court remands 300 Boko Haram suspects at secret trials

Three hundred Boko Haram suspects who were due in court on
Tuesday will now have to wait until at least next month to learn
when they will be formally tried.

The individuals were remanded in custody for 90 days on October
10 by a civilian court set up at a military base in central
Nigeria.

“The case was slated for resumption today (Tuesday) but it has
been postponed to February. No date has been fixed yet,” a justice
ministry source told AFP.

“The law allows for an extension of the remand order for another
90 days, so we are still within the limit provided by the law.

“There are ongoing investigations into the individual cases of
the suspects and these investigations have not been concluded.

“We need further investigations before the court resumes so that
we won’t be asking for more adjournments.”

Nigeria began the first mass trials linked to the Islamist
insurgency in October last year, more than eight years after the
start of violence that has killed at least 20,000.

Human rights groups have accused the military of arbitrarily
arresting thousands of civilians and holding them in unsanitary
conditions and without access to lawyers.

The prosecutions were welcomed but the government was criticised
for ordering the hearings to be held behind closed doors, with the
media and public banned.

Four civilian courts have been set up at a military base in
Kainji, in Niger state, to try 1,669 suspects.

The government said on October 13 that 45 people were convicted
and sentenced to between three and 31 years in jail but gave no
further details.

AFP

Three hundred Boko Haram suspects who were due in court on
Tuesday will now have to wait until at least next month to learn
when they will be formally tried.

The individuals were remanded in custody for 90 days on October
10 by a civilian court set up at a military base in central
Nigeria.

“The case was slated for resumption today (Tuesday) but it has
been postponed to February. No date has been fixed yet,” a justice
ministry source told AFP.

“The law allows for an extension of the remand order for another
90 days, so we are still within the limit provided by the law.

“There are ongoing investigations into the individual cases of
the suspects and these investigations have not been concluded.

“We need further investigations before the court resumes so that
we won’t be asking for more adjournments.”

Nigeria began the first mass trials linked to the Islamist
insurgency in October last year, more than eight years after the
start of violence that has killed at least 20,000.

Human rights groups have accused the military of arbitrarily
arresting thousands of civilians and holding them in unsanitary
conditions and without access to lawyers.

The prosecutions were welcomed but the government was criticised
for ordering the hearings to be held behind closed doors, with the
media and public banned.

Four civilian courts have been set up at a military base in
Kainji, in Niger state, to try 1,669 suspects.

The government said on October 13 that 45 people were convicted
and sentenced to between three and 31 years in jail but gave no
further details.

AFP