MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) – Nigeria’s army freed 267 detainees Friday, including dozens of children, some as young as preschoolers, saying that investigators had determined they had no links to Boko Haram Islamic extremists.
Only eight suspects were handed over to police for further investigation, commanding officer Maj. Gen. Haruna Umaru told a ceremony at a military barracks in the northeastern city of Maiduguri.
He said the releases should reassure Nigerians that “no individual will unjustly or unduly be incarcerated.” He said the Nigerian military remains “committed to the protection of the fundamental rights of every citizen of Nigeria and foreigners alike.”
Nigerian law requires that anyone arrested be charged before a magistrate within 48 hours and have access to a lawyer. But the military continues to hold people incommunicado, including foreigners, and the exact number still held is not known.
Four people from neighboring Cameroon and Niger were among those released Friday, along with 72 children. Nigerian security forces regularly detain the children of suspects. Glum, weary-looking detainees gathered under a tent for the ceremony, including a malnourished boy dressed only in an oversized T-shirt.