Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, has affirmed that Boko Haram’s capacity to hold territories in Nigeria has been totally decimated.
He disclosed this on Monday in his address to the 25th Session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Vienna, Austria.
The Session is holding from May 23 to 27.
He said: “The capacity of Boko Haram to hold territory has been totally decimated. Our focus now is on dealing with the remnants of their forces and re-focusing on the unfortunate humanitarian challenge caused by their activities.”
Malami asserted that the recent successes recorded against Boko Haram are attributable to the new leadership in Nigeria and the recognition of the need for greater international collaboration.
It could be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari upon assumption of office redoubled the efforts against the terrorists.
He moved the operational command to Maiduguri just as the collaboration with Nigeria’s neighbours has been enhanced.
According to the minister, “The recent surge in successes recorded against the Boko Haram sect in the Lake Chad region is attributable, not only to a reinvigorated political leadership in Nigeria, but is also attributable to the fact that we have recognised that greater international collaboration is critical in addressing terrorist activities, including the flow of resources across border to aid their operations.
“In this connection, the decision of the four countries of Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroun and Benin to constitute a Multinational Joint Task Force under a centralised command has been critical in forging a common response against Boko Haram and its allies. It is significant that the capacity of Boko Haram to hold territory has been totally decimated. Our focus now is on dealing with the remnants of their forces and re-focusing on the unfortunate humanitarian challenge caused by their activities”.
Malami assured the audience that “Nigeria strongly condemns terrorism in all its ramifications as nothing can justify the wanton destruction of innocent lives and properties that we have witnessed in Nigeria and across the globe. Nigeria re-affirms its determination to work in concert with the international community to fight terrorism.
“We shall continue to review for adoption the National Counter-Terrorism Strategy and the National Security Strategy Document adopted in 2014 to deal with other related emerging crimes.
“At domestic level, we have recognised the need for laws with sufficient deterrence capacity and concurrent respect for human rights to provide the appropriate legal framework to prevent and counter terrorism and its financing. The enactment of the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act 2013, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015 and the Cyber Crime (Prohibition and Prevention) Act 2015 are all recent legislations designed to strengthen the legal framework to fight terrorism. Using these statutes, we have achieved modest success in investigating and prosecuting cases of terrorism within our jurisdiction and benefitted from international collaboration in realising the recorded success.
“In our efforts to completely tackle this insurgency, government intends to tackle inequalities arising from massive unemployment. We intend to emphasize quality technological education for development and lay foundation for comprehensive care of the aged, the disadvantaged and the infirm. The necessary foundation for this initiative has already been laid with 2016 Appropriation Act which in the history of our country is the first to provide specifically for a social welfare regime with an allocation of over $2 billion.
The Minister noted further that terrorism is by no means the major or the only evil threatening and undermining the well-being of societies around the world. “We equally recognize that Corruption, Cross border financial crimes, Cyber crimes Human trafficking and Proliferation of weapons are all major challenges of the 21st century which the international community must tackle collectively. Let me reaffirm Nigerian government’s unwavering commitment to fight corruption and illicit financial flows. By any consideration, corruption and cross border financial crimes are impediments to development, economic growth, and the realization of the well-being of citizens across the globe.
He said “Nigeria is ready and willing to partner with international agencies and individual countries on a bilateral basis to confront crimes and corruption. In particular, I call upon the global community to urgently redouble efforts towards strengthening the mechanisms for dismantling safe havens for proceeds of corruption and ensuring the return of stolen funds and assets to their countries of origin. These has to be international collaboration establishing clear absence of interest in stolen funds and asset by the safe havens jurisdiction for proceeds of corruption through ascertained support to countries of origin of the looted funds and asset by way of facilitating the return of the looted funds and asset with case and elimination of bureaucratic legal and judicial bottlenecks”.
Malami said the world is now facing a big new challenge: human trafficking. He also said the African Continent is grieved by the tragedy which thousands face as they die in the desert or drown in the Mediterranean while trying to cross to Europe.
“We condemn in the strongest terms these people traffickers and will support any measures to apprehend and bring them to justice. At the same time, we are very appreciative of European governments notably Italy and Germany, for their understanding and humane treatment of these refugees
“In dealing with human trafficking, Nigeria established the National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons (NAPTIP) which is dedicated to combating human trafficking and related crimes. It has made commendable progress in the discharge of its mandate. NAPTIP continues to maintain close collaboration with other Law Enforcement Agencies and the UNODC in the implementation of programs aimed at strengthening our capacity to discharge our obligations under the Convention. Government is also taking measures to address the concerns and weaknesses identified in our Human Trafficking laws”.
