Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor, says the military is not charged with prosecuting terrorists, bandits and other criminal elements arrested in the fight against insurgency and insecurity across the country.
General Irobor made this known during a bi-weekly briefing of Defence Correspondents in Abuja during the bi-weekly briefing on Thursday.
During the briefing held at the Defence Headquarters (DHQ), Abuja, there were concerns that since the beginning of the war on insecurity that there was no conclusive action had been taken against the thousands of persons arrested and paraded over their alleged involvement in terrorist, banditry, kidnapping and other acts of economic sabotage.
Director, Defence Information (DDI), Major-General OJ Akpor, however, noted that the issues of human rights and the slow pace of Nigeria’s justice system should be considered even when the appropriate authorities charge the suspects to court.
General Irabor said that it was wrong to hold the military responsible for the perceived failure to prosecute and jail those arrested for terrorism, banditry and other criminal acts, with some of them even resurfacing in other crimes.
According to the CDS, “the responsibility is on you (the media) to follow up on what happens with the arrested bandits or terrorists.”
General Irabor noted that if the Armed Forces were to work within the ambit of human rights, “there wouldn’t be any Armed Forces,” stressing, “we have our internal mechanisms repelling crime.”
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