Woman Arrested By DSS With 302 AK-47 Bullets Sentenced to 20 Years

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has sentenced a woman, Halima Haliru Umar, to 20 years imprisonment for unlawful possession of 302 rounds of AK-47 live ammunition and attempting to support acts of terrorism.
Justice Hauwa Yilwa delivered the judgment on Friday after the defendant pleaded guilty to two counts in a four-count charge filed against her by the Department of State Services (DSS).
Halima, who was arrested in Plateau State, admitted to attempting to transport the ammunition in support of terrorist activities and unlawfully possessing the ammunition.
The court held that by pleading guilty during her arraignment on March 11, the defendant accepted the facts presented by the prosecution without challenging the evidence.
“The defendant, having admitted the facts of the offence as presented by the prosecution, the court is satisfied. She is accordingly convicted on counts three and four,” Justice Yilwa ruled.
Following her conviction, defence counsel, Hamza Dantani, pleaded for leniency, describing the defendant as a first-time offender who showed remorse and cooperated with the court proceedings.
He further informed the court that the convict is a nursing mother of a one-year-old child who was arrested alongside her, urging the court to temper justice with mercy.
However, the court sentenced Halima to 20 years imprisonment on count three relating to terrorism support, and one year imprisonment on count four bordering on illegal possession of ammunition.
The court subsequently adjourned the matter till July 9 for trial on the remaining two counts to which the defendant pleaded not guilty on the charge, marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/450/2025.
The two counts that the convict admitted are:
*That you, Halima Haliru Umar of Unguwan Boka, Faskari LGA, Katsina State, adult, female, sometime on 7th July, 2025, at Barkin Ladi LGA and Jos North LGA of Plateau State, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, did attempt to render support for the commission of acts of terrorism by providing material assistance and transportation of three hundred and two (302) rounds of AK-47 rifle live ammunition, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 28 (1) of Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and punishable under Section 13 (1) of Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

*That you, Halima Haliru Umar of Unguwan Boka, Faskari LGA, Katsina State, adult, female, sometime on 7th July, 2025, at Jos North LGA of Plateau State, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, did have in your possession three hundred and Two (302) rounds of AK-47 rifle live ammunition, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8(1) of Firearms Act 2004 and punishable under Section 27 (1) of the same Act.
According to the prosecution, Halima was arrested on July 7, 2025, in Plateau State while conveying 302 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition.
A DSS operative, Fahad Tahir, while reviewing the facts before the court, said the suspect was transferred to the DSS headquarters in Abuja on August 11, 2025, alongside exhibits recovered from her, including the ammunition, a confessional statement, investigation reports and N57,100 cash.
Tahir told the court that investigations revealed that one “Sani” allegedly instructed the defendant to travel to Zaria, Kaduna State, before proceeding to Jos, Plateau State, where she collected a waste bag containing the ammunition from a man identified as “Alhaji.”
The witness added: “My director instructed me and my team to carry out further investigation.
“We received the defendant with the following items: 302 live rounds of ammunition, her voluntary confessional statement, written in Hausa and English; the statement of the arresting officer, the compact disc containing the audio visual recording of her interview session, investigation report from the Plateau State Command and the sum of N57,100.
“After receiving the defendant and the items mentioned, we proceeded to conduct further investigation into the case by examining the items earlier mentioned and also interviewed the defendant, which was audio/visually recorded and in the presence of an official of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria.
“In the course of the interview, she narrated how, on the 6th of July 2025 one Sani instructed her to go to Zaria in Kaduna State to help him collect a message from someone. She said Sani gave her the sum of N50,000 for her travel expenses.
“She stated that, upon her arrival in Zaria, Sani further instructed her to proceed to Jos in Plateau State. On getting to Jos, Sani directed her to one Alhaji, who later handed over a waste bag containing 302 live ammunition.
“She stated that on her way back to Jos, she was arrested while being in possession of the 302 rounds of live ammunition.
“She volunteered her statement in Hausa language and was interpreted by my colleague into the English language, since she is an illiterate in the English language.
“At the conclusion of our investigation, we wrote our investigation report and submitted it to the Director,” the witness said.