…As court convicts, sentences them to various jail terms
The Federal Government on Tuesday, commenced the mass trial of of 227 terrorism suspects before the Federal High Courts sitting in Abuja.
The trials of the suspects, who the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN said are 500 in numbers would be handled by ten Justices of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The trial of terrorism suspects, which usually takes place at Kainji in Niger state was moved to the Federal High Court in Abuja since the court is currently on Easter vacation which started on Tuesday, April 7, will end on April 13, 2026 and regular court sittings will resume on Tuesday, April 14, across all divisions of the Federal High Court.
While the AGF, the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN and Becky Jibo, Chief State Counsel appeared for the prosecution in the trial of the suspects, the Director General of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria represented some of the suspects.
The first suspect, Hamat Modu, 20 years who, pleaded guilty to the four-count charge bordering on rendering assistant to members of the Boko Haram, a proscribed group in the country, slammed against him by the federal government was convicted and sentenced to ten years imprisonment each of the four-count charge by Justice Binta Nyako.
In another development, Isah Ali another food supplier also in Borno state, who also pleaded guilty to the charges preferred against him was also handed a ten year jail term by Justice Nyako. His jail term, the judge held, will start from three years ago when he was arrested and held in detention.
Justice Nyako ordered that the convicts be put in any detention facility designated by the Ministry of Interior be made to undergo rehabilitation and deradicalization at the end of their service of the jail terms.
Also at the proceedings of Tuesday, Justice Nyako sentenced a father of six children, Hamza Yahuza to seven years imprisonment for selling indian hemp and cigarettes to Boko Haram terrorists in Borno state.
Yahuza, one of over 500 persons brought to various Federal High Court in Abuja for trial by the AGF for aiding and abetting terrorism against the Federal Republic of Nigeria, admitted in the open court to committing the offense in 2023 and begged the court for forgiveness and leniency, which the judge rejected.
The Judge also rejected the claims that it was poverty that pushed him into supplying drugs, indian hemp and cigarettes to the Boko Haram members.
The convict also admitted supplying various drugs to the terrorists in parts of Monguno local government area of Borno state and Justice Nyako, in her judgement, sentenced him to seven years imprisonment, which should should run from March 6, 2023 when the convict was apprehended and clamped into detention by the federal government.
Following the guilty plea of the defendants, the prosecution counsel had prayed the court to convict them as charged after tendering the extra judicial statements of the convicts and the investigation reports of the prosecution which the court admitted as exhibits.
Also convicted and sentenced on Tuesday is a father of three children, Shehu Bukar to 20 years imprisonment for selling goats to Boko Haram terrorists in Borno state.
Bukar who was put on trial on 5- count charge by the federal government admitted in the open court and in his extra judicial statement that he committed the offense.
Following his denial of four other charges, the federal government withdrew the ones he denied and left him to count three alone.
Justice Nyako, after going through the confessional statement and admission of guilt of the defendant in the open court as well as the investigation report, convicted the defendant and sentenced him to 20 years imprisonment.
The Judge refused the plea for leniency made by the convict adding that the issue of terrorism has 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.
Another 20 suspected terrorists are also facing trial before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday.
Some of the trial judges apart from Justices Nyako and Nwite are, Justices Justice Musa Liman, Akpan Ekerete, among others.
Some of the suspected terrorists in Nyako’s cause list include Hamat Modu, Isah Ali, Awal Bello, Shehu Bukar, Alhaji Kulle, Mohammed Abacha Hassan, Aminami Mallum, Tasiu Yakubu, Abdullahi Ali, among others.
The trial of the terrorism suspects attracted fully armed security personnel in and around the Abuja Federal High Court as all roads leading to the court were blocked by armed security personnel.
Speaking with newsmen after the proceedings, the AGF said, at total of 227 suspects, who were brought to court on the terrorism charges on Tuesday, appeared before ten judges of the Federal High Court, who are supposed to be in their various homes to serve the Easter period of vacation.
He commended the judges for their patriotism to the service to the nation, adding that, “They have prioritized the trial of a terrorism suspect to underscore the importance that is attached to this trial.
“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.
Explaining why the terrorism trial was moved from Kainji, in Niger state to Abuja, Fagbemi said, whether the trial is in Kainji or Maiduguri, the people to try terrorism suspects are judges of the Federal High Court.
“For logistic problems, it is not convenient to go to Kainji, although, like I said, the same judges would have been ferried to Kainji.It’s more convenient here. We have more courtrooms here. And we have an enablement in terms of law to sit here, and that’s why we are sitting here.
In his comment, the defense counsel in the trial and the Director General of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, Aliyu Abubakar said,
two of the charges that were mentioned in Justice Nyako’s court are the case two of the suspects paying what they call “Zakat” to the proscribed Boko Haram group.
According to the defense counsel,
“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 said, the two suspects were convicted and sentenced by Justice Nyako for giving out farm produce as Zakat to Boko Haram terrorists and added that, the trial was made easy a little because majority of the suspects admit to committing the crime.
“This has been our experience over the years and today’s trial is not different. Majority of them admit to committing the crime. A large kr of them have also been convicted for associating with Boko Haram. 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.
“This is something we are going to continue until, until about Friday or even”, the Legal Aid boss added.
END
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