Falana warns FG and governors: Negotiating with terrorists can lead to a 20‑year prison sentence

Human rights activist Femi Falana has condemned the Federal and State governments for negotiating with and rewarding terrorists, declaring the practice illegal.

Speaking at the Amnesty International Second Annual General Meeting in Abuja on June 13, 2026, Falana warned that government officials are committing a serious offence under Nigerian law by engaging in talks with insurgents.

He noted that it is widely known that officials of the Federal Government and some State Governments have held meetings and negotiated with terrorists and bandits, resulting in thousands of so‑called “repentant” criminals being pardoned and receiving undisclosed cash gifts.

Falana stated that the “satanic Boko Haram sect and similar bodies have been proscribed” under the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, insisting that “their members and allies shall be prosecuted and not pampered and forgiven by the Nigerian State.”

He emphasized that, by both letter and spirit of the Act, it is a grave offence to meet with or associate with criminals who have carried out terrorist attacks, including the abduction of citizens.

Highlighting the legal consequences, Falana quoted Section 22 of the Act: “A person who knowingly—(a) arranges, manages, assists in arranging or managing, participates in a meeting or an activity, which in his knowledge is concerned or connected with an act of terrorism or terrorist group, (b) collects, or provides logistics, equipment, information, articles or facilities for a meeting or an activity, which in his knowledge is concerned or connected with an act of terrorism or terrorist group, or (c) attends a meeting, which in his knowledge is to support a proscribed entity or to further the objectives of a proscribed entity, commits an offence, and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of at least 20 years.”

Given these clear provisions, Falana declared that “state governors lack the power to grant pardon to the so‑called terrorists and bandits.” He explained that the law requires all terrorists and bandits arrested by security forces to be prosecuted by the Attorney‑General of the Federation. Only after conviction and sentencing to “at least 20 years” imprisonment may the President exercise his prerogative of mercy in deserving cases.

Falana warned that the President must consider that granting pardons to terrorists and bandits who have abducted citizens, raped women and schoolgirls, decapitated victims, or burned schools is contrary to national defence, public safety, public order, and public morality.

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