By Kingsley Omonobi
The Nigerian Army said on Monday that a total of 249 suspected Boko Haram terrorists and accomplices, arrested by troops in several mop up operations, have been released on the orders of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Buratai after they were cleared by the Joint Interrogation team in Maiduguri.
The release of the cleared suspects came as troops of 101 Battalion, 7 Division Garrison on foot patrol along with some elements of Civilian JTF, intercepted a suspected male suicide bomber at Sabon Gari Jidari and demobilized the primed IED he was carrying.
A statement from army headquarters gave the breakdown of the cleared and released suspects to include “169 males, 46 women and 34 children. Further breakdown shows that 203 of them were from 18 Local Government Areas of Borno State, while 44 were from other States as follows; Adamawa 2, Jigawa 2, Lagos 1, Oyo 1 and Yobe 38 while 2 of them were from the Republic of Cameroon.
It said “The released persons were handed over to Borno State government through the Commissioner for Local Government by the Acting General Officer Commanding 7 Division, Brigadier General Victor Ezugwu. The two foreigners were however handed over to the Borno State Command of the Nigerian Immigration Service.
In his remarks, the Borno State Commissioner advised the released detainees to remain law abiding and go about their lawful businesses. He also commended the effort of the military in the fight against terrorism and insurgency and respect for human rights as manifested in the painstaking efforts that led to their clearance and subsequent release.Each of them was given a token of N3, 000 each.
Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/07/249-boko-haram-suspects-cleared-freed-army-chief/
