The Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced Hussaini Isma’il, one of the leaders of the Boko Haram, linked to killings in Kano State in 2010s, to 20 years’ imprisonment.
The prosecution said, until his arrest in August 2017, Mr Isma’il also known as Mai Tangaran, coordinated and participated in several terror attacks in Kano State for years, in the throes of Boko Haram’s devastating grip on the state and other parts of northern Nigeria.
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The judge, Emeka Nwite, convicted Mr Isma’il of all four counts preferred against him by the federal government.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the judge delivered its judgement on Tuesday.
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Mr Nwite sentenced him to 15 years in prison for count one and to 20 years for each of counts two, three and four.
The judge, however, ordered that the jail terms shall run concurrently begining from the date of his arrest on 31 August 2017.
This means he will spend 20 years in jail cumulatively. It would have been 75 years jail time in total if the court ordered the sentences to run consecutively.
“The term shall be spent by the convict at any appropriate correctional service facility to be chosen by Comptroller General of the Nigeria Correctional Service working with the state.
“It is my order that at the end of his prison term, the convict shall be rehabilitated and deradicalised at any appropriate Rehabilitation and Deradicalisation Centre maintained or allowed by the federal or any state government or in any other manner choosing by the federal government or any state government before his release into the society,” Mr Nwite ruled.
The convict changed his long-held not-guilty plea to guilty to all four am need counts on Tuesday.
The momentous change came after the case had lingered in court for years and following overwhelming video evidence played in open court in the previous sitting.
NAN reports that the case, which was formerly before retired judge Anwuli Chikere, was reassigned to Mr Nwite.
The trial suffered delays resulting from appeals and a trial-within-trial to, among other things, ascertain the voluntariness of the defendant’s extra-judicial statements.
When trial eventually opened, the prosecution called five witnesses, including two State Security Service (SSS) officials and two eye-witnesses to some of the attacks linked to the defendant
Mr Isma’il, who had earlier pleaded not guilty during his previous arraignment, changed his plea to guilty after the testimony of the fifth prosecution witness.
Video evidence of how Mr Isma’il was addressing and directing members of his terrorist group to attack was played in open court, prompting his change of mind.
Among the locations targeted by the attacks coordinated by him in 2014 were the Police Headquarters in Bompai; the Mobile Police Base along Kabuga Road; the Pharm Centre Police Station; and the Angwa Uku Police Station.
The prosecution also accused him of participating in the 2016 attack on Kano Central Mosque, which led to the death of many innocent people.
Many people were reportedly killed and injured in the attacks amid widespread
Sahara Reporters reported that SSS operatives arrested him on 31 August 2017 at Tsamiyya Babba Village in Gezewa Local Government Area of Kano State.
Plea for mercy
Subsequently, defendant’s lawyer, P. B. Onijah from the Legal Aid Council (LAC), pleaded with the court to be lenient with the defendant.
Mr Onijah said the convict was remorseful prompting his change of plea to avoid wasting the the time of the court and regretted being involved in terrorism.
Mr Nwite, in the judgement, found Mr Isma’il guilty of the offences charged.
The amended charge was filed on 3 October 2023, by E. Aguda, the prosecution lawyer from the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federal and Ministry of Justice.
In count one, Isma’il, 34 years of Brithi village, in Biu Local Government Area, Borno, was alleged to have, sometime in August 2018, did profess to be a member of Boko Haram, a terrorist group in Nigeria.
The offence was said to be contrary to Section 16(1) of the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act, 2013 and punishable under the same section of the Act.
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In count two, the convict was accused of , directly participating in act of terrorism by carrying out an attack at Kano Central Mosque, Kano sometime in 2016.
He was said to have made a video message showing him and his gang members who are currently at large, and confessing to the crime at Kano Central Mosque attack, which led to the death of many innocent people.
The offence was said to be contrary to Section 1(2)(a)(e)of the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act, 2013 and punishable under the same section of the Act.
Count three accused him of participating in act of terrorism, sometime in 2014, by carrying out an attack on Mobile Police Base, Kabuga Road, Kano State, which led to the death of some personnel of the police station.
In count four, he was said to have, sometimes in 2014, directly participated in act of terrorism by carrying out an attack on Ungwa Uku Police Station, Kano State which led to the death of some personnel of the police station.
The offences were said be contrary to Section 1(2)(a)(e) of the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act, 2013 and punishable under the same section of the Act.
(NAN)
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