 Federal Government resumed trial of Boko Haram suspects and withdrawal limits will cripple campaign funding party members cry out. This is PlusPolitics and my name is Nyam Ghul Aghaji. Thanks for joining us. The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Abu Bakar Malami on Monday said the Federal Government will resume the mass prosecution of Boko Haram suspects being held in selected military formations in Nigeria. It was reported that a similar exercise has been conducted some years ago when such trials was conducted in military facilities in Niger or Nigeria rather, in the Bernou states. According to him, President Mohamed Buhari has approved funds for the exercise. And we're joined to discuss this by Deji Awobi, a legal practitioner. Welcome Deji to the program. Thank you Father Lee. Okay, we've heard this story about the Boko Haram suspects that are going to be prosecuted again by the Federal Government and we've been told that the Federal Government has released money. The President actually has released money for the prosecution of the Boko Haram suspects, many of them that are in the custody somewhere in military formations. How much faith do you have in this statement by the Attorney General that they are going to actually pull it off finally? Well, it's interesting that the Attorney General has chosen this time, a few months to the departure from the arms of power to begin the trial of this suspect. However, the President is very clear that when you have anybody who is alleged to have committed a crime, you should prosecute them timeously. So for me, coming from the arms of power, it was important for the government to prosecute those detained Boko Haram suspects as soon as the proof of evidence was available. Instead of keeping them and determining at what pace they intend to go and when and choose at what point they would prosecute them. So now that they've decided to prosecute, I believe that I will come out openly to make that statement, then I believe that they should see it through and give the suspect a fair trial. Whether or not a military permission or military camps will be the right place to have the trial is another question that we can come to later. But for now, I think we will welcome the development that finally those persons who have been accused of being Boko Haram members or being Boko Haram sponsors will get their day before the tribune or before the court for the trial. But the word soon by the federal government seems to have a different definition all the time because we have been told a long time ago that the federal government will soon name sponsors of Boko Haram. They will soon name people who are chief teams in those groups, those bandits and all that and the soon has never come to pass till this moment. How sure are you that this soon is going to be really as everyone else in the world defines the word? Honestly, when it comes to the Nigerian government and their use of word and language, particularly the word soon, I think I speak for almost all of the Nigerians that we really cannot please this government in terms of where and... So we really can't please this government in terms of what they want to do and whether they will do what they say they will do. But it will take what they have said with a pinch of salt in terms of yes, they said they will soon start it, but I will not close my eyes and believe wholeheartedly that this government will follow through what they have said. However, the AGF with the snap of Nigeria knows very well that when you have suspects who have been detained, you need to give them a trial. But there's so much secrecy concerning this book Haram is you. Secrecy as you've mentioned in terms of sponsorship, secrecy in terms of who and who have been arrested and apprehended. We don't really know the names of these suspects. We don't know whether these suspects were given a fair trial or that they've been allowed access to their counsel. Whether or not the allegations that they've been confronted with are available to them is that the proof of evidence are available to them to know exactly what the offenses are. You know, sometimes with our government, security agencies, there are times where innocent people are also taken along with those who are suspected of committing these crimes. So we really cannot say that everybody who has been apprehended or rounded up as suspects is indeed a suspect in terms of the commission of the offense. But we can only keep faith with the government, hoping that they've told the new leaf and hoping that I haven't said what they've said that they would see it through. But like I said, I wouldn't hold my breath believing everything that this government has said because in the past seven years they've shown that whatever policy that they wanted to follow through on, they've always had one snag or the other. So let's just keep up a life that these suspects will get their trial. Okay, but even if the government decides to do this, they have the will power to prosecute this, do you think the justice system, the Nigerian justice system can handle this? Well, in terms of personnel, I believe we have the brightest legal mind in Africa, even in the world, that a lot of our judges are well-traveled, well-schooled, well-educated. So in terms of the quality of personnel, we have one of the best array of judges you can find anywhere in the world. However, when it comes to infrastructure, it comes off. Okay, we seem to be losing your audio, Deji. We hope that whatever adjustments needs to be done should be done now. Oh, okay, I can hear you, but I can hear you not that clear. Okay, all right, go ahead. I can hear you now. As our saying, it's about the personal minds who can do this trial and give us the very best of legal... But in terms of the structural facilities available to them, I think that the government needs to do more. And then the case dockets of the judges is quite enormous. So adding maybe trial of 1,000 suspects or more would burden the judicial system, particularly that we have elections coming and we have pre-election matters ongoing in our courts. So as it's where we would need to have more judges employed by the judiciary, the NGOs need to look into this, have more judges employed by the judiciary so that we can have maybe nice courts to attend into these trials, as opposed to having the same judges who attend to civil matters, attend to criminal matters, and they're about burdening the justice system. That for me, I think is the... Okay, okay. Well, we've been talking with Deji Awobi Day and we'll just take a short break and we'll return to Deji to continue this discussion. Stay with us. You're welcome back. It's still Plus Politics on Plus TV Africa. We're talking with Deji Awobi Day and we're looking at what the Attorney General of the Federation has said that soon Boko Haram suspects that are in custody already will be prosecuted by the federal government and money has been released to that effect by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And we're just asking, what is your fate in the justice system like? And Deji was trying to give answers to that before we went on that short break. So Deji, you might want to continue with your train of thought. How do you believe in the justice system to be able to pull that off and prosecute whoever they will need to prosecute and do what they need to do? Yes, thank you for the question. I believe that in terms of personnel, we have the very best of legal minds on the bench and in the bar to attend to this trial. Where I think that we might have a little challenge is in the area of facilities that will be available for this trial. You know, in terms of the structures available, the assistance that are required to enable the spreading of justice in this matters is where I have cause for concern. But in terms of the personnel, I believe that we have the best of legal minds to effectively ensure that the fair trial is given to these suspects. Now that the government has given its full backing in terms of saying money has been released, I believe that saying money has been released means that there is no financial muzzle to back this trial from beginning to conclusion. And I believe that if the government's plan to have a day in court, and of course I believe that where they don't have the counsel of their choice, it's the counsel to defend the suspect. So any person who has been detained who doesn't have access to counsel would have a public counsel available by either the legal counsel of Nigeria or by the Ministry of Justice to defend these suspects to ensure that it is balanced on both sides under the fair trial at the end of the day. You did allude to the fact that the time frame is very short and I am also concerned about that that if this were to be done by the federal government, is the time frame good enough? We know that the Chief Justice has said that more judges need to be appointed just like you pointed out to yourself, that more judges need to be appointed and maybe some other people within these numbers that have been arrested and put in detention, they may not have the legal counsel to back them up and they might need the services of councils that will do pro bono or councils of government that will stand for them and this manpower is not there. So this time frame, do you think it's enough or in your suggestion they might need to just extend it? I believe the time frame between now and when this government departs is short but the good thing is that the government is a continuum. So it means that even if this government departs... Okay, we'll encourage you, if you're watching this program right now to also join the conversation on our social media platforms all our social media platforms at Plus TV Africa maybe you have a question or a comment to make and you might just want to do that, Plus TV Africa whether on Twitter or on Instagram, just look for us and send that question for us you might just want to add the hashtag plus politics. Deji, are you back there? Yes, I'm back. I don't know what happened. Just round off what you were saying about the time frame. Yes, so I was saying that as it relates to the time frame government is a continuum. So what it means is that if the new government comes in, come May 29 that government will continue with the trial of the suspects. For me, what's important is that the trial of the suspects is set to begin and these suspects will have their day in court and that for me is good for our legal system that persons are not just detained at the instance of government for periods of ending rather you give them opportunity to defend themselves and of course if those of you who are found guilty will be sentenced to whatever time of imprisonment or whatever penalties that the court would impose those who are found innocent will be acquitted of the charges and be able to vision the normal life's back. So for me it's important that we begin this trial of the suspects so that everybody involved can see that justice is not only being done but it seems to be done. Okay, but a lot of people have used this to measure the level of commitment to insecurity to fight against insecurity by this present administration that have been very secretive about the prosecution of this Boko Haram suspect and the sponsors and all those things surrounding this Boko Haram if these people are tried the way they say they will be tried and the guilty ones, some people have said that they should pay even with a capital price for their action while some others are advocating amnesty. What part of the divide would you stand? Well, I'm not a fan of amnesty deals for convicted criminals so if even a trial and a person is found guilty of the offence I do not see the reason why you'll be granted them amnesty you should allow them to serve their time and then if on good behaviour you find that they are remorseful but they've turned a new leaf you can then go ahead and grant a pardon the question provides for how to grant a pardon to convicted criminals. Now, for those who are on the other side of the divide who believe in this amnesty deal for these people but largely because of the crime that has been committed I mean people have been killed, children, women, adults including men and women have been killed and most of their families have been have had to deal with the trauma of losing loved ones or a government will now say it wants to pardon persons who have committed these grievous crimes honestly it doesn't sound good to the heirs that such persons are pardoned what it does is it encourages other criminals to go along this route knowing that at some point in time they will be pardoned and you will believe that's why there was the outcry when the president pardoned the convicted ex-governors who have found guilty of corruption so if you have that kind of outcry for convicted politicians who have found guilty of corruption how much more for persons who took life of others who caused so much pain to others, other families other people of particular territories so amnesty for me is of the table and should be of the table what we should be talking about is ensuring that people get justice justice to the victims as well the victims of the crime persons who have suffered on account of this of the conduct of these criminals should also be seen to have some form of closure some form of solace in the justice system that such persons who have committed those crimes against their families have also been dealt with so for me I believe this trial should begin the secrecy of course is not unconnected with the fact that if the names of these persons get out or the names of these particular members get out it may affect the work of the security service in tracking maybe financiers or sponsors or other persons involved so maybe that's why we can create an argument for them that they are making them very secret but now we are starting the secrecy involved as long as justice is done if your hearing is given to the suspects themselves they have counsel of their choice who is defending them and everything is done by the book by due process there would not be any reason for us to worry but where there is some secrecy and they don't have access to counsel that's where I believe that we should all be concerned so that we don't have a Kangaroa trial where we just convict people for offenses which have not been substituted for no reason so it's important that on all sides on the part of the government the suspects themselves everybody is giving it seems to be engaging in a fair trial for all consent Okay, just the final one in so many cases we've seen governments come no matter how lofty a program is they abandon it and move on to something else and this may also be another case where a new government comes in and this prosecution, this fight that this present government might start now will be abandoned and we will not hear anything about it is there any legal way that this thing we can guard against it that okay, let's make sure that the next government that comes continues with what we have begun here is there any way of legally making sure that the next government continues with this prosecution and everything that needs to be done to these cases Well, the Attorney General of the Federation has the powers to enter a nullly prosecute and that was to choose not to pursue the prosecution of these persons any further that power is constitutional, is provided in the constitution therefore is a power for him to exercise Well, whether or not the next government will want to continue with it is left to be seen I'm not sure that there's anything that we can do about insisting on them on the next government continuing with it because once the EGF enters the nullly prosecute which is discretion to enter and then there's no confederate discretion However, there can be some public pressure that can be applied if there's public outcry if there's some public pressure applied towards the exit of that power then we might see some hesitancy on the part of the new government in just discontinuing the prosecution of these suspects However, we want to believe that we ever imagine we would not have that as the first duty to go ahead and discontinue the prosecution of these suspects because it sends a very bad message across to everybody involved even to Nigerians that the government is not ready to be tough on criminals and on crime in general I want to believe that whoever comes in whoever emerges as president eventually would at least for the purpose of a cosmetic application pursue these trials up to a point maybe after a few convictions after a few years I've gone by maybe they may decide to discontinue the prosecution of all of this or most of them but I will not stick up my neck to say that the next government would not do so because the power of the attorney general the petition as well as the attorney general of the state is well provided for to enter a nonly prosecute so if they decide you do decide not to go further with the prosecution of these suspects we can't do anything about it the best you can do is to amount to public pressure and then see whether the public outcry can weigh on the mind of the government Okay, what a good way to wrap up this segment of the program public outcry that means the people will have to sit up if they find anything the next government is not doing right and they have to cry out through the legal means that are available to the people to do that and possibly like you said we hope that the next government will listen Well, thank you very much Mr. Deji I will be a day for coming on the show and sharing your thoughts with us Thank you Barbara Well, that was Mr. Deji I will be a day, a legal practitioner and he was talking about what the attorney general of the federation said that the prosecution of the Boko Haram suspects now in custody will soon begin and money has been released for that Before we go to the next topic let's just take a very short break and when we return we'll be discussing the cash withdrawal policy by the central bank and the claims that it will cripple campaign funding ahead of the elections Stay with us