By Taiye Agbaje
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday convicted and sentenced three terrorists linked to the recent kidnapping of school children and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area (LGA) of Oyo State, to a life imprisonment.
Justice Salim Ibrahim made the order in a judgement after the three men pleaded guilty to some of the counts in a 10-count terrorism charge preferred against them by the Federal Government.
The judge, who gave them the maximum sentencing in count six which attracted life imprisonment, jailed them for 25 years in count four which attracted a minimum punishment of 20 years imprisonment in line with the law.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the three men are Abdulrazak Umar (a.k.a. Abu Khalifa/Abu Khalid), Yunusa Musa (a.k.a. Yunusa bin Musa) and Shamsu Adamu Sani (a.k.a. Abu Itisar).
NAN reports that the convicts, who were arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS), all hail from Suleja LGA of Niger State.
Earlier when the case was called, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, informed the court that the charge was 10 counts.
Oyedepo, who is the Director of Public Prosecutions for the Federation, prayed the court for the charge to be read to the defendants so they could take their plea.
Responding, counsel for the defendants, A.A. Shettima, a Deputy Director from Legal Aide Council, did not oppose the application.
After the charge was read to the defendants, they pleaded guilty to counts two and six but pleaded not guilty to counts one, two, three and five which had their names.
Also Umar, the 1st defendant, whose name was mentioned in counts seven, eight, nine and 10, pleaded guilty to the four counts.
Oyedepo, citing Section 274 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, said if a defendant pleads guilty to a charge, the next thing is for the court to convict him or her accordingly after the case review.
“My lord, the three defendants all pleaded guilty to counts four and six. My lord, the 1st defendant (Umar) in addition pleaded guilty to counts seven, eight, nine and 10.
“In respect of counts four, six, seven, eight, nine and 10, I will want the DSS to state the facts of the case,” he said.
The lawyer, however, prayed the court for a trial date in respect of counts one, two, three and five which they pleaded not guilty.
According to him, we are asking for a convenient date to put our evidence and witnesses together to prove our case in repect of those counts.
Shettima said he did not object to a review of facts in the counts they pleaded guilty.
But he applied that the defendants should be convicted in the counts they pleaded guilty while their sentencing should be deferred until the conclusion of the trial in those counts they pleaded not guilty.
Responding, Oyedepo vehemently opposed Shettima’s application for the postponement of their sentencing till the conclusion of the trial.
He insisted that the judge should sentence the defendants after conviction in order to send signals that such acts are not tolerated in the country.
He argued that during the abduction, two teachers were beheaded by the terrorists while some families are still nursing the pains.
“Some of the family members may even be in court today my lord,” he added.
Oyedepo, who urged the court to convict and sentence them in line with the law, took permission from the court to call a DSS operative for the review of the facts.
Giving the review of facts of the case, a DSS investigator, identified as AA, said he was assigned to investigate the convicts this month.
According to him, during the course of the investigation, the defendants volunteered statements.
He said during their interrogation, they were represented by counsel and their extra-judicial statements endorsed.
“My lord, the defendsnts were brought into the interview room that has audio-visual recordings in the presence of their lawyer.
“And the machine in question recorded the interview as we talked to them in the presence of their lawyer.
“The machine in question gave audio and visual recordings that are uncontrovertible.
“The audio was saved in the flash drive the learner silk showed me earlier,” he said.
Oyedepo then applied to tender in evidence the extra-judicial statements and the flash drive.
The defence lawyer did not object the application and Justice Ibrahim admitted them as exhibits.
The witness also told the court that there were investigation reports about the defendants which were in a letter addressed to the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) by the DSS.
Oyedepo also tendered the letter dated July 13, containing the investigation reports of these defendants and was admitted as an exhibit after it was not challenged by Shettima.
About his findings on count four which they pleaded guilty to, the investigator said: “In the course of technical and forensic analysis, it was discovered that the defendants are close associates of key perpetrators of Oyo kidnapping and they did not report to security agencies.”
On count six, he said the defendants volunteered information about their membership of the group and went ahead to explain when they joined this particular organisation.
On the 1st defendant (Umar) in counts seven, eight and nine, the DSS operative said during the course of interviewing him, it was discovered from his devices that he disseminated radical and extremist ideologies to his followers.
On count 10, the witness said Umar confessed to be an illegal miner.
After the prosecution witness was led in evidence, Oyedepo urged the court to apply full probative values to their evidence and convict them as charged.
Justice Ibrahim subsequently convicted the three men in counts four and six, while the 1st defendant was also convicted in counts seven, eight, nine and 10 accordingly.
Making allocutus for them before sentencing, the defence lawyer begged the court to temper justice with mercy.
Shettima said the convicts were all first time offenders and had not wasted the time of the court in pleading guilty to the counts.
According to him, this shows they are remorseful of their actions.
The lawyer also said that all the offences they pleaded guilty to did not directly relate them to the kidnapping in Oyo State.
He said it was only their failure to give the information to the security agencies, among others.
“Lastly, we urge my lord to give them a second chance and be lenient in sentencing them and take into consideration the date of their arrest,” the lawyer begged.
Responding, Oyedepo disagreed with Shettima about his remark that the convicts were not directly linked to the kidnapping.
“Count four says that the convicts were aware of the activities of these people holding the abductees. A true Nigerian will go and report this to security agencies.
“We lost people, we lost of officers. These people have families too.
“We all must say no to evil. So we must send a signal to them,” the prosecutor said.
Justice Ibrahim then asked Oyedepo what the law says about punishment for each of the counts they pleaded guilty to.
The prosecutor said count four carries at least 20 years imprisonment, and count six says minimum of 20 years and maximum of life imprisonment.
But the lawyer told the court that there were “aggravating factors of Iives that we lost” during the incident.
On count seven, the lawyers said it carries minimum of 25 years and maximum of life imprisonment and count eight carries 20 years jail term.
He said counts nine and 10 gave a life imprisonment each.
After listening to Oyedepo, Justice Ibrahim sentenced the three convicts to a life imprisonment in count six and handed them a 25-year jail term in count four.
For Umar, the judge equally sentenced him to a maximum sentencing of life imprisonment in counts seven, nine and 10 and committed him to a 20-year imprisonment in count eight.
Justice Ibrahim then adjourned the matter until Sept. 16 and Sept. 17 for commencement of trial in counts one, two, three and five where they pleaded not guilty.
NAN observes that count four alleged that the three defendants, sometime between January and May at Suleja LGA, concealed an information about Muhammad Sani, Jibril Mohammed and Ibrahim Khabab as terrorists who were masterminds of the kidnap of school children and teachers of Orire LGA of Oyo State but failed to report same to the relevant security operatives.
In count six where the men bagged a life imprisonment, the prosecution alleged that the defendants, on or about June 2 June at Suleja LGA, professed to be members of Darul Salam, an affiliate of Jamaatu Asarul Muslima Fi Bilandis Sudan (Ansaru) a proscribed terrorist group in Nigeria.
The offence is contrary to Section 25(1) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and punishable under the same section of the Act.
