FG Secures Conviction of 386 Boko Haram, ISWAP Members in Four Days

Alex Enumah in Abuja

The federal government has secured the conviction of a total of 386 terrorists, said to be members of both the Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) sects.

Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, made the disclosure on Friday, at the end of a four day special court sitting at the Federal High Court, Abuja.

According to Fagbemi, a total of 508 defendants were arraigned before ten courts between Tuesday and Friday.

The federal government had accused them of providing financial as well as logistics supports to the terrorists group. Others were however charged with concealing information or failure to report activities of the insurgents to relevant authorities including being a member of a proscribed terror group.

Having found the defendants guilty as charged, the court went ahead to sentence them to various jail terms, ranging from five years to life imprisonment depending on the gravity of the charge against them.

Meanwhile, the AGF disclosed that eight of the defendants were discharged while two were acquitted from the charges against them.

The Minister of Justice further explained that, a batch of 112 suspects whose cases could not be attended to would be arraigned along with others in the next phase of the mass trial between June 15 and 18, 2026.

He said that the mass trial and the imprisonment of the 386 terrorists will serve as a signal to criminals that Nigeria has no space for heinous crimes like terrorism.

Fagbemi also commended the ten judges of the Federal High Court for sacrificing their Easter holiday to sit as special courts and in response to a clarion call of the federal government.

He also acknowledged international organizations, especially Amnesty International, Nigerian Bar Association, National Human Rights Commission and other civil society groups that witnessed the proceedings, to ensure that due process of law and transparency took the lead in the trial of the convicts.

He equally thanked the media for the coverage of the proceedings.

In one of the cases heard on Friday, a 2015 senatorial candidate in Borno State, Hon. Babagana Habeeb was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for selling petroleum products to members of Boko Haram sect in the state.

Habeeb, a fuel dealer in Maiduguri, Capital of Borno State had upon his arraignment on the one count charge admitted guilt of selling fuel to the terrorists in the North East Region of the country.

He however claimed that his station attendants may have been responsible for the sales.

He however, pleaded passionately with Justice Peter Lifu to be lenient with him in the sentencing.

He claimed to have two wives and six children and that he had not been allowed to see or communicate with any member of his family since more than ten years he was hauled into detention.

In his judgment, Justice Peter Lifu held that there was no evidence that the convict was a member of Boko Haram or trained on weapon, adding that the sole accusation against him was on the sale of fuel to the terrorists.

The Judge also held that the claim of spending more than 10 years in the custody by the convict was not debunked by the prosecution and subsequently sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment.

While holding that the jail term should start from the date of arrest and detention of the convict, the Judge ordered for his immediate release upon his signing of his release warrant to enable him go for extensive rehabilitation.