- Man Jailed 10 Years for Assisting Boko Haram with ₦750,000 Cash Swap
- Presiding judge, Binta Nyako, also handed Bello another 10 year sentence for paying ₦20,000 as tax to the group
- The prosecutions were led by the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, alongside other government lawyers
A coordinated mass trial of suspected terrorists resumed on Tuesday at the Federal High Court of Nigeria, with multiple defendants sentenced to prison terms ranging from 10 to 20 years under the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act.
Eko Hot Blog reports that the large scale exercise saw at least 13 courtrooms in the Abuja division sit simultaneously, reflecting the magnitude of cases involving individuals accused of links to insurgent groups, including Boko Haram.
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In one of the cases, Awal Bello was convicted and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for facilitating the exchange of ₦750,000 to Boko Haram during the 2023 currency swap.
Presiding judge, Binta Nyako, also handed Bello another 10 year sentence for paying ₦20,000 as tax to the group. Both sentences are to run concurrently.
Similarly, Hamat Modu was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on four counts after pleading guilty to being a member of the terrorist group, with the terms also running concurrently.
In another case, Isah Ali was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment after pleading guilty to one count, while another charge was struck out. The court considered his age at the time of arrest and period already spent in detention.
The court also sentenced Shehu Bukar to 20 years imprisonment for supporting the group through livestock supply, while Alhaji Kulle received a five year jail term for financing terrorism.
In a separate ruling, Tasiu Yakubu was sentenced to seven years imprisonment, while Abdullahii Ali was handed a 20 year jail term for providing logistics support to Islamic State West Africa Province.
The prosecutions were led by the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, alongside other government lawyers.
In most of the cases, the court ordered that the convicts undergo rehabilitation and deradicalisation as part of efforts to reintegrate them into society after serving their sentences.
The ongoing trials form part of broader efforts by the Federal Government to tackle terrorism and related offences through the judicial system.
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