“We Released 1,009 Innocent Suspects not Ex-Boko Haram Fighters”
– Nigerian Army
The Nigerian Army (NA) has debunked reports that it released 1,009 Ex-Boko Haram fighters to the Borno State Government.
The NA in a statement signed by the Director, Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, said it only released innocent suspects.
According to the statement, the report carried by the press is an “attempt to dampen troops’ morale and denigrate the NA, riding on the back of unsubstantiated reports and misinformation.
“It is an indisputable fact that the ongoing Counter Terrorism Counter Insurgency Operations (CTCOIN) in the North East has led to the arrest of several terrorism/insurgency suspects.
“These suspects have been held in custody, while undergoing profiling and further investigations by experts from the Joint Investigation Centre (JIC) and those who are found culpable are usually handed over to prosecuting agencies accordingly, while those who are not implicated in terrorism and insurgency are cleared and released to the state government for rehabilitation before they are reintegrated into the society.
“The cleared suspects are therefore not ex Boko Haram fighters, as peddled in the said online report and as the masterminds would want to impress the public.
“A total of 1009 cleared suspects, not ex-fighters, were therefore released after this rigorous process on Wednesday 14 July 2021.
“It is also necessary to categorically state that the handing over of the cleared suspects was not shrouded in secrecy as it was witnessed by United Nations Humanitarian and government agencies, in tandem with global best practice.
“The NA therefore urges the general public to discountenance this misinformation, as it is evidently a manipulation and distortion of the truth and reality of the event.”
