Some 250 people who were
arrested and held on suspicion of links to Boko Haram Islamists have been
released and given $10, Nigeria’s army said on Monday. “Yesterday (Sunday), a
total of 249 cleared suspected Boko Haram terrorists and accomplices were
released… as approved by the chief of army staff in Maiduguri,” said army
spokesman Sani Usman.
Colonel Usman said in a
statement that those released included 169 men, 46 women and 34 children.
They
were handed over to the Borno state government in northeast Nigeria and told
“to remain law-abiding and go about their lawful business”, he added. “Each of
them was given a token of N3,000 (naira, $10.4, 9.4 euros),” he said. It was
not stated how long they were all held in custody.
Most of those held were
from Borno, epicentre of the violence that has claimed at least 20,000 lives
and made more than 2.6 million homeless since 2009. But one came from Lagos,
1,200 kilometres (760 miles) away in the southwest, and two from neighbouring
Cameroon.
Nigeria’s military has
been repeatedly criticised for the arbitrary detention of civilians during the
seven-year Boko Haram insurgency in the remote region. Human rights groups have
accused the army of keeping suspects in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions
and have said many have died from disease, hunger, dehydration and injury.
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