The public prosecutor condemned Nigerian Nearly 400 Islamist militants were sentenced following mass trials held this week in the capital, Abuja, according to Reuters.
According to reports, the trials began last Tuesday, and are part of a series of trials involving suspected members of Boko Haram and the Islamic State in West Africa Province that began in 2017 with more than 2,000 defendants.
Nigerian court rulings
Nigerian Attorney General Latif Fagbemi explained in his remarks that more than 500 cases were submitted to the Federal High Court during the recent proceedings, adding, “We submitted 508 cases to the court, and of these, we were able to obtain 386 convictions, eight acquittals, two acquittals, and 112 cases were adjourned to the next hearing or stage.”.
Sentences ranged from five years to life imprisonment, and judges stipulated that convicts must undergo rehabilitation and de-radicalization programs to support their reintegration into society.
Boko Haram group
Humanitarian organizations say that the Boko Haram insurgency, which began in 2009 in the northeast of the country, has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than two million people.
The group gained international notoriety for the mass kidnapping of schoolgirls in the town of Chibok in northeastern Borno State in 2014.
Boko Haram and its splinter group, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), seek to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria, and have increased their attacks against the army this year.
Court officials said that international observers, including representatives from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Amnesty International, and the Nigerian Bar Association, monitored court proceedings to ensure fair trials.
