Army frees 125 Boko Haram suspects
The Nigerian army has freed 125 suspects alleged to have had ties to the Boko Haram insurgents.
Their release comes two days after 42 persons were similarly handed over to Kashim Shettima, governor of Borno state.
Sani Usman, a colonel and deputy director, army public relations, who handed over the previous set, was also the one who announced the release of the new set.
He said they were arrested in Biu, Borno, on September 23 and that the army conducted a thorough investigation before releasing them.
“Following bombardment on suspected insurgents’ hideout in September, some of the insurgents decided to flee to other parts of the country to either cause havoc or hide themselves,” he said.
“The military intercepted them and 254 suspects were arrested in some trucks in Biu. Out of those arrested, 125 were found to be clean after investigation.”
Usman said the authorities in Abuja directed that they should be handed over to the governor.
The army continues to face allegations of arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings in the northeast.
On Wednesday, 16 persons were alleged to have been murdered three hours after they were arrested in Yobe state
Several people have been arrested (some pictured) in the bid to put an end to the insurgency
The Geneva Convention does not apply to terrorists , who are regarded as spies. They can therefore be killed without any qualms by their enemies even if they surrender. Many of these Boko Haram insurgents are foreigners and therefore are spies in the true sense of the word. Therefore the Nigerian soldiers can do whatever they want with them and are covered by international conventions.