Repentant Insurgents Can Be Prosecuted, Says Lai Mohammed

The federal government yesterday recanted its position that it would not prosecute repentant members of Boko Haram and Islamist State for West Africa Province in line with global practices.

The apex government, however, clarified that repentant insurgents and terrorists could be prosecuted contrary to reports in the public domain.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made this clarification in Washington DC. Yesterday.

Mohammed had defended the decision of the federal government not to prosecute repentant insurgents and terrorists on Friday during engagement with global media outlets, think-tanks and influencers.

During the engagement, the minister had said: “I personally spoke to the military authority before I left Nigeria and they said what they were doing was what the global practice dictates about soldiers that surrendered; that they should be treated as prisoners of war.

“You cannot just shoot them because there are international conventions that give rights also to prisoners of war. What the military is doing is that, when they surrender, they profile them to ensure that they are genuine and reintegrate them into the society,” he gad said.

Faulting the report yesterday, Mohammed clarified that he was misrepresented in a report that claimed the decision of the federal government not to prosecute repentant insurgents was in line with global best practice

The minister reiterated his position that the call for the shooting of the repentant insurgents without profiling and prosecution was against best global practice.

The minister said his words were unambiguous and repeated what he said in the report.

“I personally spoke to the military authority before I left Nigeria and they said what they were doing is what the global practice dictates about soldiers that surrendered that should be treated as prisoners of war.

“You cannot just shoot them because there are international conventions that give rights also to prisoners of war.

“What the military is doing is that, when they surrender, they profile them to ensure that they are genuine and reintegrate them into the society,’’ he said.

He reiterated his position that the fact that the country was witnessing insurgents submitting in droves calls for commendation of the President Muhammadu Buhari and military for their doggedness.