Abuja, NIGERIA — The Borno Government says it has cleared 500 suspects of involvement in terrorism and had them released from the Nigerian Army detention facility at Giwa Barracks, Maiduguri.
The state’s Commissioner for Women Affairs, Zuwaira Gambo, said this in Maiduguri while responding to a leader of some aggrieved women in Borno, Hajiya Gana, who alleged that some of their innocent men and children were being held at the barracks.
Mrs Gambo spoke during a question and answer session at a Public Presentation of Charters of Demand from Survivors, Victims and De-radicalised Women in Borno, organised by an indigenous NGO, Allamin Foundation for Peace and Development.
He said all those released in batches were handed over to the Borno State Government.
“The latest batch released last week were 28 in number,” Mrs Gambo said.
She assured those whose relations were arrested by the military in connection with the insurgency to entertain no fear as long as such relations were innocent.
Mrs Gambo said the state government is working closely with the military to ensure justice and fairness to all suspects.
The commissioner lauded the foundation for being at the forefront of seeking justice for the vulnerable and promoting peace and reconciliation in the state.
She said the government would look into the charter of demand from the survivors and victims of the insurgency, adding that many of the demands were being addressed under the “Borno Model” following the mass surrender of insurgents and their families.
The commissioner said that the Borno Model was a community-based approach involving all stakeholders.
Also speaking on innocent persons in detention, the Executive Director of Allamin Foundation for Peace and Development, Hamsatu Allamin, lauded the Army for providing periodical access to the foundation to visit those in detention at Giwa Barracks.
Mr Allamin also noted the periodical release of those identified as innocent and urged the military to sustain the tempo to ensure that no innocent member of the society suffers for a crime he or she did not commit.
The highlight of the occasion was the presentation and review of the charter of demand by Abubakar Mu’azu, a professor who is the Director of, Centre for Peace, Development and Diplomatic Studies at the University of Maiduguri.
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