The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), has said that the Federal Government, in the coming days will officially gazette the court order proscribing the activities of bandits causing havoc in the country.
The minister said the Federal Government is following the international best practices in designating bandits as terrorists.
A Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Taiwo Taiwo in November, 2021 ruled that activities of bandits, and other similar groups, by whatever names they are called, in any part of the country, are acts of terrorism and thus declared them terrorists.
Meanwhile, days after the court order, the Federal Government is yet to gazette the law, leaving many worried.
Speaking on NTA Good Morning Nigeria, Malami explained that gazetting is a mere formality, adding that getting the court order is paramount and more important.
His words, “The gazetting of a court order or judgement is a process but what matters fundamentally within the context of international convention is the judicial declaration and that has been obtained; the court has declared bandits, kidnappers, cattle rustlers as terrorists.
“So, with or without the gazette, what gives effect to such declaration is a judicial pronouncement but the gazette is a mere formality and it has been on and I believe within a matter of days, it will be concluded.”
Giving insight into why the FG filed an application at the Abuja Federal Court to outlaw the activities of bandits in the country, Malami said after an assessment conducted by the government about the situation in Northeast, it was discovered that bandits are causing major threats to human lives and peaceful co-existence..
He continued, “Now, we are confronted with another threat in the North-West associated with banditry, kidnapping, cattle rustling and in all these, these people are using weapons to attack Nigerians, kidnap them and created a situation of serious security challenge and fear in the system.
“Whatever military hardware you acquire there are limits within the context of the international convention as to how it can be used, when it can be used and against who it can be used. And that is how the idea of looking at the activities of the bandits, cattle rustlers, kidnappers come into being.
“Our assessment taking into consideration that they are causing a major threat to the territorial peaceful co-existence and causing a major threat to lives with weapons, the idea then came about that indeed they (bandits) have satisfied the criteria of being declared terrorists within the context of the law so that whatever military hardware at the disposal of the Federal Government can best be used against them within the context of the international convention and within the context of the law.”
