The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, on Tuesday, disclosed that about 150 convictions have so far been secured within two days of the commencement of the current phase of Federal Government’s mass trial of terrorism suspects.
The AGF, who disclosed this while speaking with journalists at the premises of the Federal High Court in Abuja where the mass trial is going on simultaneously before ten judges of the court said, the phase of the trial which began on Monday, would continue until Thursday.
The exercise so far has recorded about 160 trials, leading to approximately 150 convictions. “Yesterday we had about 160 trials. I think about 150 convictions,” the AGF said and added that, the process continued on Tuesday with about 300 cases brought before the courts, while another 84 cases were expected to be concluded.
“Whatever we can do or wherever we stop today, we’ll continue tomorrow and also on Thursday. So it’s still ongoing,” the Minister said and then appealed for patience from members of the public as authorities continued with the exercise, stressing that the initiative was part of the government’s commitment to ensuring justice, accountability and the rule of law.
Earlier, no fewer than 500 alleged terrorists were tried between April 7 and April 10 before the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.
The mass trial initiative is part of the Federal Government’s broader strategy to clear the backlog of terrorism cases and accelerate justice for offences linked to insurgency and armed criminal networks across the country.
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