Human Rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Femi Falana has written to the Attorney General of the Federation Abubakar Malami requesting information on the 400 arrested financiers of Boko Haram.
Recall that some persons were arrested in April by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), and in collaboration with the Department of State Services (DSS), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) over a clampdown on Boko Haram financiers which was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2020.
The people arrested include Baba Usaini, Abubakar Yellow (Amfani), Yusuf Ali Yusuf (Babangida), Ibrahim Shani, Auwal Fagge, and Muhammad Lawan Sani, a gold dealer was reportedly kept in military and DSS facilities in Abuja and other places.
In the letter, the lawyer raised some concerns about their prosecution and asked the AGF to respond within seven days, under the Freedom of Information Act.
In a letter titled ‘REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON PERSECUTION OF ARRESTED 400 SPONSORS OF TERRORISM IN NIGERIA’, Falana commended the move by the Nigerian government to prosecute the suspects.
The letter dated August 3 reads, “On May 04, it was widely reported in the print and electronic media that the Federal Government had concluded arrangements to prosecute about 400 alleged sponsors and financiers of terrorism in Nigeria. In the said publication, your office assured the nation that the suspects would be arraigned after the industrial action recently embarked upon by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN).
Given the terrorist attacks being unleashed on law-abiding citizens by the groups of insurgents in several parts of the country, we strongly commend the move by the Federal Government to prosecute the suspects who were reported to have been arrested in nationwide operation a few months ago.
“We, however, request that our law firm be furnished with information concerning when criminal charges were filed against the suspects since the strike by JUSUN has been called off. Kindly ensure that we are furnished with the requested information within 7 days of the receipt of this letter by the provisions of Freedom of Information Act.”
Source: SaharaReporters
