The Federal Government on Tuesday said it is yet to designate bandits as terrorists because it want to follow international best practices.
On November 26, 2021, Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja granted an ex parte application by the Federal Government for Yan Bindiga (Hausa word for gunmen) and Yan Ta’adda (Hausa word for terrorists) to be declared as terrorists.
The court asked the AGF to publish the order in two national dailies and to also publish the order in the official gazette.
But while speaking on NTA’s Good Morning Nigeria Show on Tuesday, Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), said the process would be concluded in a matter of days.
The non-response to the November 26 judgment by Malami is contrary to the speed with which it handled similar cases. For example, in the case of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), the AGF was able to gazette the designation of IPOB as terrorists on the same day that Justice Abdu Kafarati gave the order on September 20, 2017.
Also, in the case of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) led by Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, the AGF gazetted the proscription order four days after the court gave the order on July 26, 2019.
Even before the legal processes for the declaration of IPOB started, Defence Headquarters kicked off the public haste when it pronounced the secessionist group a militant terrorist organisation.
Malami said during the television programme that his office was in the process of gazetting the court judgment that ordered the government to declare bandits as terrorists.
According to the Minister, “government has a responsibility to act but within the context of acting, you equally expected to operate within the confines of international best practices associated with engagement and one of such best practices is that you can only use maximum force on groups, individuals that are declared terrorists and that is where the application of the Terrorism Act comes in place.
“With that in mind, Nigeria acted, first by proscribing IPOB, taking into consideration the threats to lives and properties they have caused in the nation. Boko Haram was proscribed.
“The gazetting of a court order or judgment is a process but what matters fundamentally within the context of international convention is the judicial declaration and that has been obtained; the court has declared bandits, kidnappers, cattle rustlers as terrorists.
“So, with or without the gazette, what gives effect to such declaration is a judicial pronouncement but the gazette is a mere formality and it has been on and I believe within a matter of days, it will be concluded.”
