Terrorism: Court convicts Boko Haram goat, food, Indian hemp suppliers

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

The Federal Government on Tuesday resumed the prosecution of over 500 alleged terrorists captured across different parts of the country.

Among those arraigned and convicted by the Federal High Court in Abuja was a father of three, Shehu Bukar, who was jailed for 20 years for selling goats to Boko Haram insurgents in Borno State.

The defendant, after his case was called, pleaded not guilty to four out of five counts preferred against him by the federal government.

Following his denial of those allegations, the prosecution withdrew them and focused the trial on only count three, which he admitted.

In her judgment, trial Justice Binta Nyako took cognisance of the defendant’s extrajudicial statement, the investigation report, and his open confession to the charge the federal government sustained against him.

The judge sentenced him to 20 years in prison after rejecting a plea for leniency made by the defendant, who addressed the court in Hausa.

The court noted that terrorism has become a worrisome issue in the country, with virtually all regions affected.

It held that the convict, by rendering support to terrorists through his supply of goats, had committed a serious offence that must not be condoned.

Likewise, in another judgment, the court sentenced a father of six, Hamza Yahuza, to seven years’ imprisonment for selling Indian hemp and cigarettes to Boko Haram terrorists in Borno State.

Yahuza had admitted before the court that he committed the offence in 2023, even as he begged for forgiveness.

The federal government had charged him with aiding and abetting terrorism.

When his case was called, the 40-year-old Yahuza confessed that he supplied various hard drugs to insurgents operating in parts of Monguno Local Government Area in Borno State.

His plea for leniency was also rejected by the court, which dismissed his claim that poverty had pushed him into supplying Indian hemp and cigarettes to terrorists.

Even though he was sentenced to seven years, Justice Nyako ordered that his prison term should run from March 6, 2023, when he was apprehended and detained.

Another defendant, Hamatu Modu, was found guilty and sentenced to 40 years after confessing before the court that he supplied food items and information to terrorists.

He was found guilty on all four counts and sentenced to 10 years on each.

However, following a passionate plea by the defence team, the court held that the sentences should run concurrently, meaning he would serve only 10 years in jail.

The court also convicted another Boko Haram food supplier in Borno State, Isah Ali, and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.

According to the court, his jail term would be backdated to three years earlier, when he was arrested and detained.

The convict had confessed to the crime.
Justice Nyako ordered that, at the end of the jail term, the defendant should undergo rehabilitation and deradicalisation programmes.

Other judges who heard cases against terror suspects brought before the court on Tuesday were Justices Emeka Nwite, Musa Liman, Akpan Ekerete, and Mobolaji Olajuwon.

Whereas the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), and the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation (DPPF), Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), were physically in court to handle the trials for the federal government, the defendants were represented by lawyers from the National Legal Aid Council of Nigeria (NLACON), led by Director General Mr. Aliyu Abubakar.

Speaking to journalists after the court sittings, the AGF, Fagbemi (SAN), said the proceedings were part of phase 9 of the mass trial of terror suspects.

He disclosed that over 500 suspects would be tried before the court under the ongoing phase, which he said would last until Friday or Saturday.

“It is our hope that of these 500, we will be able to go very far. We thank all the critical stakeholders for considering service to the nation first and forgoing the Easter vacation to be here,” the AGF stated.

Stressing that 10 judges were on hand to hear the cases, the AGF said the trial, which was initially conducted at Kainji in Niger State, was moved to Abuja owing to logistics.

He said: “Due to logistics problems, it was not convenient to go to Kainji. We have more courtrooms here, as well as facilities. The same judges would have been ferried to Kainji. To have 10 judges at a time handling the cases means a lot to us.

“We have enablement in terms of law to sit here, and that is why we are sitting here.”

Among the stakeholders on hand to observe the proceedings were representatives of Amnesty International, the UNODC, and the Nigerian Bar Association.

“Nobody will be convicted unless we have satisfied the provisions of the law. That is why we are here in the open.

“It is not a secret trial. We are here in the open, where confessions were made and proofs given in the public glare,” the AGF added.

On his part, the DG of the NLACON, Mr. Abubakar, said the defence team had the opportunity to interface with the defendants before their trial.

“We went to Maiduguri and Kainji and conducted pretrial interviews with the defendants.

“So far, there has been a level of transparency in the trials. Some of the defendants were also discharged and acquitted,” he stated.

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