By Our Correspondent <\/p>\n
The North\u2011Central Writers Advocacy Group (NCWAG), a Nigerian civic accountability and advocacy collective, said it is \u201cprofoundly shocked, alarmed, and condemning\u201d after media reports claimed the Zamfara State Government, under Governor Dauda Lawal, secretly freed a large number of convicted terrorists and bandits from state correctional facilities.<\/p>\n
In a press statement released to Daily Champion in Jos on Saturday and signed by Irimiya Dunat, Coordinator of NCWAG, the group said:<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to published reports, a total of 291 Boko Haram members and 219 armed bandits were allegedly freed under circumstances that have not been explained to the Nigerian public.\u201d<\/p>\n
The statement added that those released \u201cwere not awaiting trial; they were convicted criminals whose offenses include terrorism, mass violence, kidnapping, destruction of communities, and other acts that have destabilised the North\u2011West and the entire federation for over a decade.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the reports are true, NCWAG says the action represents one of the most disturbing breaches of public trust and national security in Nigeria\u2019s fourth republic,\u201d the release noted.<\/p>\n
NCWAG warned that Nigeria is currently battling \u201cunprecedented multilayered security challenges.\u201d The alleged release of hardened terrorists without public accountability or judicial transparency \u201cthreatens to worsen this national crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group listed further concerns about the release, including:<\/p>\n
\u201cA national security threat, disregard for victims and survivors of terrorism, violation of the principles of justice.\u201d<\/p>\n
It added that the release is \u201ca dangerous precedent capable of undermining the rule of law across the federation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Questioning the legality and rationale behind the releases, NCWAG demanded that Governor Lawal provide a full, public, and verifiable explanation, asking:<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder what legal framework such pardons or releases were granted?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy individuals convicted of terrorism were considered eligible?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow does the decision align with national security protocols?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWere victims\u2019 families, law enforcement bodies, the judiciary, or the Federal Government notified or involved?\u201d<\/p>\n
The group also called on the Presidency, the National Security Adviser (NSA), the National Security Council, the Ministry of Interior, and the Office of the Attorney\u2011General of the Federation to urgently investigate the matter and give Nigerians a clear national\u2011security briefing.<\/p>\n
In a seven\u2011day ultimatum, NCWAG demanded that the Zamfara State Government:<\/p>\n
– publicly address the allegations;
\n– provide documentary evidence of the identities of all persons released;
\n– disclose the legal basis for their release; and
\n– clarify whether any negotiations, political agreements, or election\u2011related considerations were involved.<\/p>\n
To date, no rebuttal or clarification has been issued by Governor Dauda Lawal or any official spokesperson of the Zamfara State Government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Our Correspondent The North\u2011Central Writers Advocacy Group (NCWAG), a Nigerian civic accountability and advocacy collective, said it is \u201cprofoundly shocked, alarmed, and condemning\u201d after media reports claimed the Zamfara State Government, under Governor Dauda Lawal, secretly freed a large number of convicted terrorists and bandits from state correctional facilities. In a press statement released […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[5577,4236,5576,3909],"class_list":["post-9197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-law-crime","tag-alarmed","tag-condemning","tag-profoundly","tag-shocked"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9197"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9202,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9197\/revisions\/9202"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}