Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture of Nigeria, says contrary to the news that he said repentant Boko Haram terrorists won’t be prosecuted, they can be punished.
Mohammed, speaking in Washington DC, USA, on Saturday, said according to NAN that he was misrepresented in the report claiming “the decision of the Federal Government not to prosecute repentant insurgents was in line with global best practice”.
He reiterated his position that the call for the shooting of the repentant insurgents without profiling and prosecution was against best global practice.
“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.
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“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.
It was earlier reported that, the Federal Government has said the call for the prosecution and killing of the repentant militants rather than granting them amnesty was against global best practices.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Washington.
“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.
