By Joy Odor
The Acting Commanding Officer, (ACO), Joint Investigation Center (JIC) under JTF OPHK North East (NE), Colonel Umar Ahmed on Wednesday confirmed that the arrested terrorists suspects in JIC are treated humanely, well feed, taken care medically, clothing, have access to physical training exercise and restoration of family links.
This is even as he informed that most of the suspects in detention are awaiting prosecution, lamenting that the delay in prosecution is responsible for the continuous stay of the suspects in detention longer than necessary.
He also explained that the JIC detention facility is well kept under good and habitable conditions, fumigated to prevent insects and reptiles in the centre in spite of the daunting nature of the tasks and the challenges faced.
“The detainees are fed 3 times daily, adequate water is made available at all times, food supplement and additional meal is given to any of the suspects that is brought to the Centre malnourished.
“Additionally, the Centre usually organizes special feeding for the detainees during the festive period to dine and wine together. The facility has a clinic to cater for the health needs of the detainees.
“Serious medical cases are however referred to 7 Division Medical Service Hospital and the University Teaching Hospital Maiduguri respectively. Special cases requiring surgery are equally attended to by the command.
“The Centre also maintains medical records of female suspects brought to the Centre with pregnancy and monitors the maternity till delivery and this is done in line with global best practices. The Centre is equipped with an ambulance to attend to emergencies.
“It is pertinent to note that a solar energy system was installed to provide stable light in the facility to aid the storage of drugs as well as 24hrs surveillance on the detainees.
“On arrival of suspects in the Centre, each of the suspects has been issued with new clothes, underwear, toiletries, and personal hygiene items usually donated by ICRC to augment the existing effort as support to the Centre
“The detainees are given access to physical exercises like football, jogging and playing other indoor games within the facility. They are given a number of hours to come out of their cells and exercise within the facility.
“This is to enhance their health, keep them physically and psychologically sound and their minds busy.
“Restoration of family link is a service done in conjunction with the ICRC whereby messages are collected from detainees and delivered to their family members or relatives and vice versa.
“This has further helped in calming down the tension and apprehension of the detainees as they now have information about their families” he said.
The JIC ACO who highlighted the role and activities of JIC in the fight against terrorism in Nigeria under the leadership of the Theatre Commander (TC) of Joint Tasks Forces (JTF ) Operation Hadin Kai North East (NE), Major General W. Shaibu to the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) Correspondents on a media tour, Maiduguri informed that the Centre has been able to achieve its mandate as it continues to discharge its mission effectively.
According to him, aside its core mandates, it introduced a skills acquisition program to keep the suspects engaged pending the completion of their investigation and restored family links to manage the suspect’s concern about their families.
Col Ahmed noted that each of the cells is equipped with a TV set to improve the psychological wellbeing of the detainees and to keep them abreast with information on the outside world as a way of managing stress.
He bemeaoned that despite the achievement highlighted, the Centre is faced with a number of challenges which includes; Difficulty in accessing witnesses and Delay in prosecution and difficulty in securing most of the witnesses that would have aided the investigations.
According to JIC ACO, this is partly due to lack of accessibility by own investigators to most of the areas of arrest or crime scene, unwillingness of some witnesses to come forward and testify.
Col Ahmed maintained that the delay in prosecution of most of the suspects whose investigations have been completed also poses a great challenge to the Centre.
Recall that Joint Investigation Centre (JIC) established for temporary holding, screening, investigation and categorization of suspected Boko Haram/ISWAP Terrorists (BHT) arrested in Counter Terrorism and Counter Insurgency Operations (CTCOIN) in North East (NE) Nigeria.
“It was conceived out of the idea of having a holistic and unified multi-agency approach in investigation of terrorism and other related crimes.
“The Centre is multi-agency comprising personnel from the Nigerian Army (NA), Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS).
“In addition, the Complex Casework Group (CCG) made up of lawyers from the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) do visit the Centre to carry out vetting of investigation reports and give appropriate legal opinion.
JIC ACO affirmed that the main task of JIC is the investigation of terrorism and other associated crimes within the theatre of OPHK and has lived up to its tasked by timely conducting investigations of several suspects referred to.
“The Centre has a team of investigators and language assistants drawn from the various security agencies who conduct the investigations.
“The investigations are conducted within the legal framework of Terrorism Prevention Act 2011, Terrorism Prevention Act 2013 as amended and the recent Terrorism Prohibition and Prevention Act 2022.
“Investigations are carried out adopting a human rights-based approach and with the aid of Special Investigation Techniques (SITs) and equipment donated by the UNODC.
“The Centre usually obtains a remand order from the Federal High Court to keep the suspects under custody pending the completion of the investigation.
“After the investigation, the Complex Casework Group (CCG) carries out the review of the investigation reports and offers the necessary legal advice.
“Based on the result of the investigations and the legal review, the detainees are categorised into 3 groups; which are Prosecution, Rehabilitation and Reintegration.
“Prior to their movement from the Centre to these places, the Centre does capture the biometric of every one of them to maintain a database of all persons and suspects that passed through the Centre.
“Civil-Military Cooperation. In line with local and international best practices, the Centre cooperates with relevant organisations and international bodies that have the mandate to monitor places of detention across the country.
“These bodies includes; the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC), International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Lake Chad Basin Support Framework (LCBSF), Allamin Foundation for Peace and Development (AF) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
“The Centre adopted practices that reinforce human dignity in the counter-terrorism context in line with the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy highlights that “effective counter-terrorism measures and the protection of human rights are not conflicting goals, but complementary and mutually reinforcing”.
“The Centre has introduced skills acquisition programs such as tailoring, cap making and barbing among others to keep the detainees busy and engage them in productive ventures while in custody. The Centre is also training the detainees on poultry, rabbit and fish farming.
“Although not part of the original mandate of the Centre, it became necessary to introduce these skills programs due to the long stay of some of the suspects in detention and the need to engage their minds and energy while in custody.
“It is pertinent to state that these efforts have earned the Centre recognition and commendation at various levels as one of the best detention facilities in the country” he concluded.
