The Federal High Court in Abuja has convicted a total of 386 terrorists put on trial by the Federal Government in the last four days.
READ ALSO: Ex-Senatorial Candidate Jailed 10 Years for Selling Petrol To Terrorists
The convicted terrorists were sentenced to various jail terms ranging from five years to life imprisonment based on the gravity of the charges against them.
The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, who confirmed this, said that a total of 508 defendants were arraigned before 10 courts between Tuesday and Friday.
Briefing journalists at the conclusion of the mass trial outside the court, Fagbemi said that eight of the defendants were discharged while two were acquitted from the charges against them.
The Minister of Justice further explained that a batch of 112 suspects whose cases could not be attended to would be arraigned along with others in the next phase of the mass trial between June 15 and 18, 2026.
He said that the mass trial and the imprisonment of the 386 terrorists would serve as a signal to criminals that Nigeria has no space for heinous crimes like terrorism.
Ex-Senatorial Candidated Jailed
The latest convictions came as a 2015 senatorial candidate in Borno State was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by the Federal High Court in Abuja for selling petroleum to members of the Boko Haram sect in the state.
The politician, identified as Babagana Habeeb, was convicted by Justice Peter Odo Lifu on a lone count charge of aiding and abetting terrorism in the country brought against him by the federal government.
Habeeb, a fuel dealer in Maiduguri, the state capital, had, upon his arraignment on the one-count charge, admitted guilt of selling fuel to the terrorists in the North-East region of the country.
The politician, while kneeling down in the dock for almost one hour his trial lasted, pleaded passionately with Justice Lifu to be lenient with him in the sentence.
He claimed to have two wives and six children, and that he had not been allowed to see or communicate with any member of his family for more than 10 years since he had been in detention.
Counsel for the Federal Government, lawyer, Mr. David Kaswe, had opposed the plea for leniency, adding that the logistics support accorded to the terrorists had led to the death of several people and rendered others homeless.
Kaswe admitted that the convict had spent more than 10 years in detention but insisted that he should be given 20 years’ imprisonment.
However, Justice Peter Lifu held that there was no evidence that the convict was a member of Boko Haram or trained in weapons, adding that the sole accusation against him was the sale of fuel to the terrorists.
He therefore sentenced the defendant to 10 years’ imprisonment, ordering that the jail term should start from the date of arrest and detention of the convict.
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