These significant terrorism convictions

IN a recent press briefing, the National Coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Centre in the office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major-General Adamu Laka, brought cheery news to Nigerians on the centre’s efforts in bringing terrorists to account in the law courts. According to him, the Federal Government has secured 2,512 convictions in terrorism-related cases after recording 791 additional convictions in the 11th phase of mass trials at the Federal High Court, Abuja. He disclosed that the first 10 phases of the trials produced 1,721 convictions, while the latest phase added 791, bringing the total to 2,512. Not a few Nigerians are excited about this news as it suggests that the era of treating terrorists with kid gloves may be over. The seeming resolve of the current administration to bring mass killers, maimers and abductors of innocent citizens to justice is laudable. In the recent past, terrorists were rarely apprehended and in few cases of arrest, they were seldom prosecuted diligently. It was as if they were untouchable and above the law. The lackadaisical disposition to bringing the criminals to justice was a veritable concern to many a Nigerian then. It is hoped that this has become a thing of the past.

The current situation is very encouraging. We applaud the Federal Government and give kudos to the security agencies for the resolve evident in recent mass trials and convictions. Hopefully, this shift in the official tolerance for acts of terrorism will send strong signals to the outlaws that they will not be able to avoid justice for too long.  We, however, urge the government to revisit our suggestions on firing squads within clearly structured military enclosures. It will save time and money, and can make terrorists see that the authorities mean business. Truth be told, anything short of capital punishment for anyone that knowingly involves himself/herself in terrorist acts is unlikely to put paid to the uncivilised and criminal acts. The extant law, the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, which replaced earlier 2011 and 2013 laws, has a broad sanctions grid that specifies death penalty only in the circumstances where acts of terrorism result in deaths or attacks on internationally protected persons. We urge a review of the law in a way that makes it difficult for anyone that deliberately gets involved in terrorism to escape the firing squad, no matter the degree of his/her involvement. Once it is established that a culprit of his/her own volition participates in acts of terrorism, (s)he should be killed. Whether they are facilitators, enablers, field soldiers or commanders, terrorists are killers who deserve nothing less than the death penalty upon apprehension, trial and conviction.

As heartening as the current accelerated trials and mass convictions are, it may not go far enough if the implementation of the convictions does not result in permanent exclusion of the perpetrators from civilised society. Therefore, while we urge the government to heighten the pace of the current trial and convictions, the convictions should be speedily implemented. We have had cases of people being condemned to death but vanishing or their colleagues outside the correctional centres orchestrating jailbreaks to facilitate their escape from custody. Again, the government’s prosecutors must be very clear in the prosecution process: the terrorists who have killed people either directly or through facilitation and enablement should not just be jailed; the charges should indicate that the suspects killed people. Nigerians are not happy hearing that terrorists were merely jailed; they ought to face capital punishment. In any case, the prison resources are scarce, so why waste prison food and other resources procured with taxpayers’ money on killers of innocent people? The relevant authorities, especially state governors, who appear to be reluctant to sign a death warrant, should rethink their stance. Yes, the death penalty is becoming increasingly unpopular globally, but it is unwise and perilous for any government to leave its citizens at the mercy of terrorists by avoiding the application of adequate sanction that promises to rein them in.

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There is a need to take a second look at the rehabilitation programme for the repentant terrorists. It serves little or no useful purpose to just accept the surrender of terrorists who have been cornered in the battlefield by security agents or had to surrender because they had fallen out with their colleagues in their camps on personal grounds. That would be opportunistic, and such criminals should be treated differently from the truly penitent outlaws. Also, the disproportionate extension of the state largesse to rehabilitated terrorists while the widows and orphaned children of dead soldiers are still bemoaning their losses is a huge disservice to those families. Their loved ones were killed or maimed by the terrorists. In a sense, this practice potentially incentivises recruitment into terrorist groups while it discourages enlistment into the Nigerian military for obvious reasons.

We applaud the successes being recorded in the renewed fight against terrorism in the country both in the battlefields and in the law courts. But guaranteeing genuine relief among the citizenry demands effective implementation of the convictions by the State. The convictions should be implemented in such a way that the average rational person will consider it too risky to join a terrorist gang while the one who is already a member will think of quitting.