Dereliction of Duty and the Criminalization of Failure to Prosecute Terrorism Financiers

Dereliction of Duty and the Criminalization of Failure to Prosecute Terrorism Financiers:

Introduction:
On 3 February 2026, the former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami SAN, was arraigned by the DSS before the Federal High Court presided over by Honourable Justice Joyce Abdulmalik. He was charged with failure to prosecute financiers of terrorism in Nigeria, whose case files had been sent to him while he was in office in 2022. This case highlights the importance of accountability in governance and the seriousness with which terrorism financing must be addressed.

Legal Framework: Section 26(2) of the TPPA 2022
Section 26(2) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 defines and criminalizes acts of abetting terrorism financing. It provides that when a public official refuses, fails, or neglects to prosecute terrorism financiers, he commits an offence under the Act.

The legislature deliberately inserted this provision to emphasize that terrorism financing must be treated with urgency, seriousness, and absolute commitment. Any public official who treats such matters with levity or manifests dereliction of duty in prosecuting offenders should face the full weight of the law.

Criminal Liability for Failure to Act
This provision covers situations where a public officer or relevant authority knowingly refuses to prosecute suspected terrorism financiers whose case files were submitted to their office. In criminal law, liability may arise not only from direct commission of an offence but also from failure to report, instigation, or encouragement of another to commit the offence. Collectively, such conduct is known as abetting or assisting.

Therefore, Section 26(2) of the TPPA criminalizes actions that facilitate, support, or assist in the financing of terrorism. The penalties are clear: knowingly obstructing the prosecution of, or failing to prosecute, known terrorism financiers attracts criminal sanctions.

Governance and Accountability
To end the legendary dereliction of duty by public officials—which has contributed significantly to bad governance and hindered social and economic development—the legislature should enact provisions similar to Section 26(2) of the TPPA. Such laws would hold accountable any public official who refuses, fails, or neglects to carry out responsibilities placed on his shoulders while in service.

Military Analogy: Lessons from Discipline
In the military, when a soldier or officer is given a responsibility to execute and he fails, refuses, or through negligence blunders, he is subjected to the heaviest penalty applicable under the Armed Forces Act.

I had an experience in 1996 as a young lawyer in Calabar, Cross River State, when I was briefed to defend two officers—a Lieutenant Colonel and a Captain—who were arraigned before the General Court Martial.

The Lieutenant Colonel was the Commanding Officer of a Battalion of the Nigerian Army deployed to take over an island known as East Atabong in the Bakassi Peninsula, which the Cameroonian military had occupied. He detailed the Captain to carry out reconnaissance to determine whether the island was tenable for Nigerian troops to move in and evict the Cameroonian forces. However, the Captain did not properly carry out his assignment, and when Nigerian troops moved in, they were mercilessly mowed down. Nigeria lost many troops, and more than one hundred were taken prisoners of war.

The Nigerian Army was embarrassed and promptly arraigned the Lieutenant Colonel and Captain before the General Court Martial. The Captain was charged with cowardice before the enemy, which carries the death penalty, while the Lieutenant Colonel was charged with dereliction of duty. Both were convicted. The Captain was sentenced to life imprisonment, while the Lieutenant Colonel was sentenced to seven years imprisonment and cashiered from the Army. He lost his rank and was reduced to a non‑commissioned officer. Fortunately, when President Olusegun Obasanjo assumed office in 1999, both of them were pardoned.

Lessons for Governance
This experience gave me a perspective on how the military does not condone any iota of indiscipline or dereliction of duty. It also highlights the broader lesson that in governance, just as in the military, failure to discharge one’s responsibility can have grave consequences for national security, stability, and development.

@ Okoi Obono-Obla