Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, has explained why repentant Boko Haram members are not prosecutable.
Mohammed explained why the repentant insurgents cannot be prosecuted in an interview with NAN in Washington. As he puts it:
“Before I left Nigeria, I communicated with the military authority, and they told me that what they were doing was standard practice for soldiers who surrendered and should be handled as prisoners of war.
You can't just shoot them since international conventions grant prisoners of war rights as well.
When they surrender, the military profiles them to ensure that they are genuine before reintegrating them into society," he explained.
He congratulated the troops on the recent increase in the number of insurgents surrendering.
“The fact that insurgents are surrendering in droves is a testament to our military's tenacity.
We must not forget that just two months ago, Nigerians were pressuring President Buhari to enlist mercenaries to fight the war on terror, claiming that the country was losing the war.
The President, on the other hand, remained focused and assured in his conviction in the Nigerian military's ability to defeat the terrorists.
We are grateful to God that Mr. President has been proved right today.
We were able to accomplish this partly due to Mr. President's leadership in continuously supplying resources to the troops and ensuring that their fighting morale is maintained through welfare packages," he said.