The Chief Imam of Malkohi Jumma'at Mosque, Mallam Ibrahim Aliyu has expressed optimism on the success of the transitional justice project in his community, saying their fears of accepting repentant Boko Haram was allayed when they started living together in peace.

The Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Chief Tony Ojukwu (SAN) has said he is optimistic that the Project Promoting Reconciliation, Reintegration and Transitional Justice in some parts of the North East will succeed if it gets adequate support from all the stakeholders including members of the Community.

Speaking in Yola at a Stakeholders’ Consultative Workshop on the project which is anchored by the Commission in collaboration with UNDP and supported by the European Union, Ojukwu said that the project is community based and its success is dependent on the full cooperation and partnerships of traditional, religious and community leaders.

Ojukwu who was represented by the Adamawa State Coordinator, Grace Mamza stressed that even though the programme will promote non-judicial transitional justice processes, NHRC will be seeking the support of the Borno, Adamawa and Yobe state governments to promote legal and policy mechanisms to institutionalize informal approaches to transitional justice.

“We will therefore be collaborating with the offices of the Attorneys General in the three states to achieve this long-lasting legacy and build on emerging best practices on reconciliation and reintegration at state level” Ojukwu said.

The Adamawa State Commissioner of Justice A.K Jingi, commended the NHRC for the laudable initiative and expressed the willingness of the Ministry to partner with the Commission to achieve its set objectives. He disclosed that the Ministry of justice has a special unit on citizen’s right which carries out functions similar to transitional justice and transformative dialogue.

The Village Head of Malkohi Ibrahim Yahaya appreciated the NHRC for its thoughtfulness in initiating a justice and reconciliation project. He stated that his community has been hosting IDPs since 2015 and is also the first community in Adamawa to receive repentant Boko Haram from operation safe corridor, thus, familiar with the nitty –gritty of the operational context of transitional justice system.

Meanwhile, the Malkohi Village IDPs Leader Yunusa Usman gave a rundown of the work that the NHRC has done in Malkohi Village since 2015, citing several interventions on protecting the rights of IDPs over the years. He pleaded with NHRC to exercise utmost caution in the project implementation as many of the IDPs still harbour resentment and grudges as a result of the pains inflicted on them by the insurgents.

The District Head of Madagali Bakura Yerima Iya, applauded the project and pledged the support of his office as the District Head to work with NHRC to ensure the successful implementation of the project, saying his people are the most affected by the Boko Haram insurgency.

Ishak Abdullahi Jada on behalf of the Muslim Council of Nigeria and Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) thanked NHRC for considering religious leaders as critical stakeholders in the project. He stressed that Boko Haram insurgency is rooted in religious extremism and the victims are both Christians and Muslims hence, religion has a pivotal role to play in the implementation of the project.

The National Human Rights Commission on Thursday awarded a total of 146m as compensations to 27 petitioners for the brutalities, harassment, extortion, extrajudicial killing of their loved ones by the Nigerian Police as recommended by the Independent Investigative Panel on human rights violations by the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and other police units in Abuja.

The Independent Investigation Panel on Human Rights Violations by the defuct Special Anti-Robbery Squad and other units of the Nigerian Police Force on Thursday awarded monetary compensations to 27 victims of human rights Violations.