Public-interest lawyers on the platform of International Human Rights Protection Forum (IHRPF) have written the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN) calling for the prosecution of a journalist, Mr. Ahmad Salkida for alleged acts of terrorism.
In the letter signed by Eze Njokwu, advocacy officer of the group, said available statistics showed that 14.8 million people in the north eastern part of Nigeria covering Adamawa, Gombe, Borno and Yobe states have been affected by activities of the outlawed Boko Haram terrorists group since 2009.
The lawyers in the letter dated October 3, 2020 called for the investigation of Salkida, alleging instances in the past where Ahmad Salkida himself admitted that Abubakar Shekau usually shared video footages with him for scrutiny and editing before posting same to YouTube.
The group said in the petition, ”We submit that the actions of Ahmad Salkida so far coupled with the kind of inciting words he continually utters regarding national security issues are treasonable enough to warrant your office to advise the appropriate security agencies, especially the Department of State Services (DSS) to jumpstart criminal proceedings against him for attempting to dislodge the legitimate government of Nigeria, contrary to Section 5 of the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act, 2013.”
”We maintain that unless you advise the DSS which has been excelling in leaps and bounds to urgently arrest, arraign and prosecute Ahmad Salkida in an open court Nigerians will begin to feel that he is a sacred cow who exists above the laws of our land.
”We demand therefore, that your office should within the next 7 working days from the date hereof initiate necessary communication with the DSS and other relevant security agencies saddled with the responsibility of handling terrorism issues pursuant to Sections 1, 4 and 5 of the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act, 2013. Our expectation is that you will not leave us and other Nigerians in the dark but make a public statement before expiration of the above ultimatum about the arrest of Ahmad Salkida as well as his subsequent arraignment and prosecution in open court like other Boko Haram suspects”, the group said.