FG Resumes Prosecution of 500 Alleged Boko Haram, ISWAP Terrorists

• Secures conviction of over 200 

•Bandits kill another six in Bauchi village

Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi and Alex Enumah in Abuja

The federal government, yesterday, commenced the trial of another batch of suspected terrorists belonging to the Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) sects.

At the proceedings, 227 defendants were arraigned before 10 judges of the Special Court session, sitting at the Federal High Court, Abuja.

While the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, and Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, led the side of the federal government, the defendants were represented by lawyers from the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria (LACON), led by its Director-General, Aliu Bagudu Abubakar.

Many of the defendants admitted to the offences which they were being charged with, such as providing logistics, food, clothing and other materials to insurgents, including payment of tax known as “Zakat”.

In most of the cases, the court handed down the minimal sentencing of 20 years’ imprisonment, with some bagging the maximum of life imprisonment.

Speaking to journalists outside the courtroom, Fagbemi disclosed that about 500 of the alleged terrorists detained at military facilities in Kainji, Niger State, and Maiduguri, Borno State, had been profiled and cleared for arraignment at the special court, holding from Tuesday to Friday and, possibly, Saturday.

The AGF thanked the judges for sacrificing the period of their rest to attend to the crucial need of the country.

“This is phase 9, don’t forget. For phase 9, we have 500 in all, and it will last either Friday or Saturday. It is our hope that of these 500, we will be able to go very, very far,” the AGF said.

While stating that the trial was not a secret one, he disclosed that international organisations, like Amnesty International, civil society organisations, Nigerian Bar Association, international media organisations, as well as local media organisations and some private lawyers, had been invited to witness the proceedings.

The director-general of LACON disclosed that the organisation interfaced with all the defendants in a pre-trial session to help their defence.

Abubakar stated that those newly added to the list were interviewed in Abuja before their arraignment.

He observed that many of the defendants pleaded guilty to the charges thereby making the case less cumbersome for the court.

Reacting to the case of the defendants convicted for paying tax to Boko Haram, Abubakar stated, “When you pay money or when you give farm produce to Boko Haram, by way of appeasing them, it is considered to be part of terrorism financing.”

He disclosed that some of the defendants were not active members of Boko Haram and ISWAP but were convicted for association with insurgents.

He stated, “Some of them are not active participants in Boko Haram activities or ISWAP activities, as the case may be.

“Under the law, association is termed as grievous as committing an offence. Some of them were convicted for association. Happily, I can say one or two people have been discharged and acquitted.

“And you can imagine for somebody who has been in detention for close to four or five years under the military custody to be discharged and acquitted, it shows that the trial has some level of transparency that is going on.”

In one of the proceedings, Justice Binta Nyako sentenced a major foodstuffs supplier to the Boko Haram terrorists in Borno State, Hamatu Modu, to 40 years’ imprisonment for his involvement in terrorism activities.

Modu had pleaded guilty to all four-count charge filed against him by the federal government.

The court subsequently sentenced him to 10 years on each of the four counts, but due to the plea of the defence counsel, the judge ordered that the 40 years’ imprisonment should run concurrently, giving the convict opportunity to spend only 10 years.

Another food supplier in Borno State, who was also jailed 10 years by Nyako, had his sentencing backdated to three years ago, when he was arrested and detained by the federal government.

The judge ordered that the convicts be made to undergo rehabilitation and de-radicalisation at the end of their jail terms.

The Federal Ministry of Interior was ordered to determine where the convicts would serve their jail terms.

In another decision, a father of three, Sheu Buka, was sentenced to 20 years’ imprisonment for selling goats to Boko Haram terrorists in Borno State.

While refusing the plea for leniency made by the convict, the judge held that the issue of terrorism had become worrisome in virtually all parts of the country.

According to the court, rendering support to terrorists is a serious offense that must not be condoned.

Similarly, a father of six, Hamza Yahuza, was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for selling indian hemps and cigarettes to Boko Haram terrorists in Borno State.

Yahuza admitted in court to committing the offence in 2023 and begged the court for forgiveness.

He also admitted supplying various drugs to the terrorists in parts of Monguno Local Government Area of Borno State.

In her judgement, Nyako disagreed that it was poverty that pushed Yahuza into supplying drugs, indian hemp, and cigarettes to Boko Haram members.

Nyako imposed seven years’ imprisonment on him, but ordered that the sentence should start from March 6, 2023 when the convict was taken into custody.

The trial continues today.