APC debunks rumour of B’Haram detainees’ transfer to Anambra:the Guardian

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has dismissed as ‘untrue’ reports making the rounds that Boko Haram detainees will be transferred to Anambra State or any other state.
A protest had erupted in Onitsha on Saturday over reports that Boko Haram detainees will be transferred to Onitsha Prisons.

However, in a statement made available yesterday to The Guardian in Enugu, the APC, South East Zone dismissed the development as ‘blatant lies,’ aimed at tarnishing the president.
The statement made by APC Zonal Publicity Secretary, Mr. Osita Okechukwu said, “We have made contacts with the Presidency and the Nigeria Prison Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs and they assured us that there is no iota of truth in the mischievous rumour.
“In the clarification the Nigeria Prison Service stated unequivocally that, ‘Most of the terror suspects are awaiting trial and so there is no way they can be moved to another state, because they must be tried in the state where they committed the crime’.”
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They went further to state that their primary and traditional duty is to move detainees from prison to trial courts and wondered how easy it is to move the detainees more than 1000 kilometers from Onitsha to Maiduguri if they are relocated.”
The South East Zone of the APC appealed to Ndigbo to disregard the “blackmail and sinister rumour of rear-guard elements; who are yet to recover from their failure in the March 28th presidential election.”
“We assure our people that the change President Muhammadu Buhari promised is real: the 2nd Niger Bridge, Federal Roads, Enugu Coal and other physical and social infrastructure in the South East will be revamped,” APC said.
Meanwhile, a pro-democracy and non-governmental organisation, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has cautioned against any contemplation by the Federal government to relocate the terrorists to Anambra State prisons.
A statement jointly signed by the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director, Miss Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA called on all persons of goodwill and especially Igbo leaders to rise up in unison and condemn this plot to relocate these suspected Boko Haram terrorists.
In a different development, Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima has said there has been a radical intervention of the Federal Government in the welfare management of over 150, 000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Maiduguri metropolis and Biu.
Shettima made the declaration at the weekend in Maiduguri, while breaking his Ramadan fast with some IDPs at Government Girls Science Secondary School (GGSSS) resettlement camp of Yerwa.
His words: “All of us here gathered today, including the displaced persons before me and the Shehu of Bama, Alhaji Kyari Ibn Ibrahim El-Kanemi, have started feeling the positive impact of President Muhammadu Buhari’s All Progressive Congress (APC) administration in the last one month.”
The Shehu of Bama, Alhaji Kyari Ibn Ibrahim El Kanemi who is also a displaced person; following the destruction of his palace and occupation of Bama by Boko Haram insurgents last September.