Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, has explained why the federal government of Nigeria can’t name and shame terrorism sponsors.
Gatekeepers News reports that Malami said the government could not name and shame suspected financiers of terrorism until they are tried and convicted.
The AGF, in a statement issued by his spokesman, Umar Gwandu, on Wednesday, noted that the suspects would eventually be made public, adding that “shaming remains a consequence of judicial conviction”.
The statement read, “Naming and shaming of suspects are not embarked upon as a policy by the federal government out of sheer respect the constitutional rights of Nigerians relating to presumption of innocence.
“It is a product of constitutionalism and the law. It is rooted in the law, and the suspects’ names will accordingly be made public at the point of judicial arraignment while the. Trials are judicial processes and not about media sensations.
“Naming and shaming in the Nigerian context must be rooted in constitutionalism. We must strike a balance between the constitutional presumption of innocence and evidential proof of reasonable ground for suspicion in making disclosures associated with terrorism funding and financing.
“Where reasonable grounds are established, suspects must be naturally taken to court, at which point their identity must be disclosed, and the naming becomes apparent. Shaming, on the other hand, is the product of conviction, at which point the public is equally judicially put on notice.
“In essence, naming and shaming within the context of Nigerian law are judicial functions which commence with the arraignment and terminate with convictions.”
According to the AGF, out of the over 1000 Boko Haram case files the department of public prosecution received, “285 have been filed before the federal high court based on prima facie cases of terrorism against them”.
He, however, gave assurance that sponsors of terrorists that have been identified will be prosecuted.
Malami said, “As far as terrorism funding and financing is concerned, we’ve succeeded in identifying those that are responsible for funding, and we are blocking the leakages associated with the funding and embarking on an aggressive investigation that is impacting positively in terms of the fight against terrorism.
“Investigation is ongoing, and for the purpose of investigation, I wouldn’t like to be preemptive in terms of making disclosures that would have the effect of undermining the successes we are recording as far as investigation is concerned.
“But one thing I can tell you for sure is that whatever we do in terms of detention or arrest is indeed backed by judiciary process. We obtained legitimate court orders taking into what we had presented before the court, and the court exercised its discretion in terms of granting orders that we can have them in custody, pending the conclusion of an investigation.”
In May, TheCable reported how the suspects were arrested in operation coordinated by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), the Department of State Services (DSS), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
They were arrested in Lagos, Borno, Kano, Abuja, Sokoto, Zamfara, Adamawa, and Kaduna states.
