Abubakar Malami, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, has acknowledged that bandits have been labeled as terrorists and will be punished as such in the future.
He revealed that a court order had been requested and received, and that it would be gazetted soon in an interview on Channels Television on Wednesday night, Dec. 1.
In response to the claim that declaring them terrorists took a long time, Malami noted that because the situation was shifting, the government needed to address the concerns as they occurred.
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Malami was asked how the bandits should be described and he said: “Terrorists. Terrorists within the context of the order granted by the court.”
He added: “With or without the gazette. The gazette is a formal process and it doesn’t take away the legality and effectiveness or the legality of an order of the court.
“The decision of the court is effective simplicity inherently in its own right without necessarily awaiting the gazetting process, but the gazetting process is part of what is associated with the formality of it.
“So, in effect, with the pronouncement of the court, the incidence of the effect associated with the judgment had taken automatic effect.”
He stated that they will now be handled as terrorists, and that all security services are aware of their new designation.
In other news, Nigerians, according to the Federal Government, are still hesitant to expose corrupt practices to appropriate authorities.
Executive Secretary, Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption, Sadiq Raddah, stated at the public presentation of the report of a survey on five years of whistle-blowing policy in Nigeria conducted by the African Centre for Media and Information Literacy, that this is because many people are scared of dying even for a good cause.
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Raddah, who urged such people not to be terrified, cautioned them against becoming careless. He stated,
“Since the idea of whistleblowing began, we have realised some problems by people who want to blow the whistle.
“Yes, it is good to be afraid but if you become captive of fear and you want to be righteous, you end up being a captive without delivering.
”I have always said we must be willing to pay the price for doing what is good, including losing our lives.
“I have said several times that nobody wants to die but it is not bad to die while trying to pursue what is good. So people who want to blow the party history across the country, please try not to be afraid but indeed don’t be careless.
Source; Ghgossip.com