... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...suspects in the latest round of dropped cases for lack of evidence, the justice ministry said Monday.
Over the course of last week, hundreds of suspected Boko Haram snuffies appeared before a court at the Kainji military base in central Niger state.
A total of 526 suspects have been released from custody after it was found there was not enough evidence to prosecute them, underscoring concerns from human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal
liberty...
groups that the Nigerian military has been arbitrarily arresting and detaining civilians during the Islamist insurgency.
"Among the reasons for setting the 526 suspects free are want of evidence, under aged (minor) and persons suffering from mental illness," ministry front man Salihu Othman Isah said in a statement.
Only one suspect, Modu Maina, was discharged and acquitted by the judge, Isah said.
"Maina confessed that he was forcefully initiated into the Boko Haram group but relocated to Lagos to avoid being locked away
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
in Bama," Isah said.
"He said that all the confessional statements he made to Joint Task Force (JTF) was under alleged torture."
Isah added that "about 205" detained suspects were convicted and sentenced to imprisonment, with jail terms ranging from three to 60 years.
The remaining 73 cases have been adjourned until the next hearing.
In total, over 1,000 people have been processed in a string of mass hearings which began in October at four specially-constituted civilian courts inside the facility.