By Deborah Nnamdi
The Federal Government has allocated approximately N1.4 billion for the rehabilitation of repentant terrorists and the establishment of terrorism trial centres over the past year and a half.
Following former President Muhammadu Buhari’s assent to the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Bill on May 12, 2022, the National Counter-Terrorism Centre (NCTC) was established.
In December 2022, the government announced plans to build two disarmament, deradicalisation, rehabilitation, and reintegration centres for former Boko Haram members and other terrorist factions.
Reports said that Rear Admiral Yem Musa (retd.), the coordinator of the NCTC, confirmed to the House of Representatives Committee on National Security and Intelligence that N2.4bn would be allocated to these centres as part of the NCTC’s N3.8bn capital projects for 2023.
According to data from the GovSpend platform, between December 2022 and May 2024, the Ministry of Justice expended a total of N1.4bn on these rehabilitation centres and the renovation of facilities for terrorism trials.
This included N612m spent in March 2023 to renovate abandoned structures for terrorism trials and build dormitories for the rehabilitation of repentant terrorists under Operation Safe Corridor.
In 2024, an additional N179m was spent on similar projects, including the procurement of equipment to aid terrorism case prosecutions.
Meanwhile, the NCTC recently announced that it had secured 325 convictions during the Phase 5 and Phase 6 trials at the Kainji Detention Facility. Convictions ranged from the death penalty to life imprisonment, with sentences depending on the severity of the crimes committed.
Despite this, concerns have arisen over the secretive nature of these trials.
Security experts and civil society organizations have raised questions about why such trials are conducted behind closed doors, given the gravity of the crimes involved.
Some argue that transparency is critical for public trust, while others believe that secrecy is necessary for security reasons. The government has yet to provide a clear explanation for this approach.
