Some 250 people who were arrested and held on suspicion of links to Boko Haram Islamists have been released and given $10, Nigeria’s army said on Monday.
“Yesterday (Sunday), a total of 249 cleared suspected Boko Haram terrorists and accomplices were released… as approved by the chief of army staff in Maiduguri,” said army spokesman Sani Usman.
Colonel Usman said in a statement that those released included 169 men, 46 women and 34 children.
They were handed over to the Borno state government in northeast Nigeria and told “to remain law-abiding and go about their lawful business”, he added.
“Each of them was given a token of N3,000 (naira, $10.4, 9.4 euros),” he said.
It was not stated how long they were all held in custody. Most of those held were from Borno, epicentre of the violence that has claimed at least 20,000 lives and made more than 2.6 million homeless since 2009. But one came from Lagos, 1,200 kilometres (760 miles) away in the southwest, and two from neighbouring Cameroon.
