101 suspected terrorists were recently released by the Federal Government because there were no facts to prove that they were Boko Haram members.
The FG has been criticised over the alleged secret release of 100 Boko Haram terrorists from the Kirikiri Medium Security Prison in Lagos.
According to an online platform, wardens at the facility let them out as part of a swap deal for the release of travellers who were abducted in Kaduna on March 28.
It was gathered that the freed suspects had been awaiting trial since 2009, adding that they knew about the Kuje jailbreak before it occurred.
But Daily Trust reported on Saturday that discussions for the release of the suspects started long ago when it was evident that there were no facts to prove that they were Boko Haram members, considering that most of them were arrested in the streets of various cities at the onset of the Boko Haram uprising 13 years ago.
The news outlet said multiple sources disclosed that the release of the 101 suspects had nothing to do with the release of the 23 train abductees.
“There is no iota of truth in the alleged prisoner swap. The terrorists who released the last set of the train victims have nothing to do with the 101 people released from Kirikiri. Those people in Kirikiri were not Boko Haram members. There was no evidence to nail them.
“The terrorists that attacked the Abuja-Kaduna train had set their members free during the invasion of Kuje prison in Abuja. Those people freed from Kirikiri have no value to the terrorists. It was just a coincidence that their release nearly coincided with the release of the train victims,” a source close to the military in Maiduguri, Borno State, said.
Similarly, a top official of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria (LACON) denied a trending statement on the social media that their release was part of the terms of negotiations for the release of 23 Abuja-Kaduna train hostages.
“This is balderdash. It is a tissue of lies. They were released by a court order,’’ the official who craved anonymity said.
He also confirmed that upon their release, the military took them to Gombe for debriefing and deradicalisation, adding, “They are now in Gombe.’’
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