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

THE Federal Government has 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 focussed 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 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 had become a worrisome issue in the country, with virtually all regions affected.

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

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.  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.

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 deradicalization programmes.

Other judges who heard cases against terror suspects brought before the court yesterday 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 FG, the defendants were represented by lawyers from the National Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, NLACON, led by its 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.

Culled from Vanguard