ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA)- Director General of the Nigeria Army Resource Centre, Major General Garba Wahab (retd), has urged the judiciary to expedite the prosecution of terrorists.
This call comes as reports reveal that of the over 50,000 Boko Haram terrorists arrested by the Nigerian Army and other security agencies, only about 300 have been prosecuted.
Wahab spoke during a two-day round table discussion in Abuja, themed: ‘Asymmetrical National Security Challenges, the Army, and National Development’.
He emphasized the judiciary’s critical role in punishing terrorists and deterring impunity during a two-day roundtable discussion in Abuja.
Wahab stressed that the slow pace of judicial proceedings hinders efforts to combat insecurity, citing examples of cases that take up to 20 years to be adjudicated upon.
The retired general also advocated for empowering local governments to function effectively, allowing for localized security architecture and more efficient addressing of insecurity issues at the grassroots level.
He said: “One of the ways to curb insecurity is that the judiciary must be alive to its responsibilities and the local government authorities should be allowed to function.
“It is regrettable that in a Nigerian court, it will take 20 years for a case to be adjudicated upon and persons who have commited clear and glaring offences get just punishment.
“That’s what is happening. A former president mentioned it saying It takes 10 years for a simple case of stealing to be decided in Nigeria.”
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He suggested that this approach would enable the military to focus on larger-scale security challenges.
Wahab’s remarks highlight the need for a multi-faceted approach to addressing Nigeria’s security challenges, including judicial reform and decentralization of security architecture.
He added: “What we are asking those in government to do is to find a way of ensuring that the judiciary and local government are allowed to function well.
“When you allow local government to function, then you can localise the security architecture.
“In so doing, insecurity issues will be addressed at the battalion level. We should go to the battalion level because these battalions serve the state and so they relate with the state and local government.
“We shouldn’t wait till we get to divisional headquarters whenever there is a problem. Divisional headquarters in most cases are busy attending to five or six states.”