*Father of 10 sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for protecting Boko Haram members
*Another gets 20 years over membership of proscribed IPOB
Alex Enumah in Abuja
Three individuals bagged various jail terms on Thursday in Abuja, over offences relating to terrorism.
While Mr Sunday Frank was sentenced to 40 years imprisonment for spying for an alleged notorious bandit leader in Benue State, the late Terwase Akwaza, popularly known as Gana, a father of 10 children, Ali Shaban Hamma, on his part was jailed for 10 years for giving protection to members of the Boko Haram terrorists in his Borno Community.
Similarly, a self-confessed member of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mr. Paul Okechukwu, was sentenced to 20 years jail term for belonging to the proscribed organisation.
Their conviction and sentencing on terrorism related offences was following the renewed efforts of the federal government to check the menace of terrorism and sound a warning to supporters and sympathizers of the heinous crime.
In a four-count charge brought before the court by the federal government, it was alleged that the convict, Frank, who hails from Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State, monitored and provided information to Gana about the movement of security agents.
It alleged that the convict’s coverage for Gana spanned Benue and Taraba states.
Gana, was said to have started as part of a militia group defending Benue communities against attacks by suspected herdsmen, but was killed in September 2020 by security operatives.
Specifically, in the charge, which was personally prosecuted by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, it was alleged that the convict had also kidnapped one Samuel in 2022 and held him hostage until the sum of N40,000 was paid for his release.
He was accused of committing offences contrary to sections 21 and 24 of the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act (TPPA) 2022.
Even though the defendant denied counts 1, 2 and 3 of the charge, which related to his alleged involvement in abduction, he pleaded guilty to count 4, which related to providing information to the Benue bandit leader.
Following his plea, the AGF applied for the counts the defendant denied to be struck out, a request the court granted.
Afterwards, the prosecution produced a witness who told the court that he was part of the team that investigated the defendant, adding that the convict had confessed to being a bandit and an informant to the late Gana.
He said the defendant, who was arrested in 2022, admitted that aside from giving updates on the movement of security agents to Gana, he also confessed to his involvement in banditry and participation in the abduction of two persons.
According to the witness, the defendant’s confessions were both oral and written.
Delivering judgment, Justice Hawa Yilwa of the Federal High Court, Abuja, found the defendant guilty and sentenced him to 40 years imprisonment, starting from the day of his arrest.
The court held that the convict should, upon completing his prison term, be subjected to a rehabilitation and deradicalisation programme.
In the case of Hamma, he was handed a 10- year jail term by Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, shortly he pleaded guilty to the terrorism charges brought against him by the federal government.
The convict admitted knowing the Boko Haram members in his village and that he ignorantly refused to report them to the federal troops for arrest and prosecution.
He confessed that he had been associating with the terrorists since they arrived his village to unleash criminal activities on the people.
Upon his admission of guilt, the AGF pleaded with Justice Nyako to sentence the convict to a minimum of 20 years in view of the gravity of the heinous offence of terrorism.
Fagbemi argued that the terrorists would have been brought to book if the convict had not rendered protection to them.
However, the judge sentenced the convict to 10 years imprisonment, which she observed was the minimum jail term the Act on which the defendant was charged stipulated.
Besides, the judge ordered that the sentence should commence from 2012 when the convict was apprehended and kept in custody.
Meanwhile, Okechukwu, 48, was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to one of the two-count charge the federal government preferred against him.
The prosecution alleged in the first count that the defendant, who is from Nnewi South in Anambra State, had in 2021, while in Imo State, committed an offence by belonging to IPOB, a proscribed organisation, contrary to and punishable under Section 16 of the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act, 2013.
In the second count, the federal government alleged that the defendant participated in an attack in which two security operatives were killed, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 2(1) of the Terrorism (Prevention) (Amendment) Act, 2013.
After the charge was read to him, the defendant pleaded not guilty to the second count.
In view of this development, and following an application by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, who was in court to lead the prosecution, the court struck out the second count after it was withdrawn.
Relying on Section 72 of the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act (TPPA) 2022, the Attorney-General applied for the court to allow a witness from the Department of State Services (DSS) to review some facts of the case.
The witness, whose name was given as “ABC” for the purpose of the trial, identified the defendant as a member of IPOB, which he said had since been outlawed.
He told the court that the defendant was involved in acts of terrorism, which he said included attacks on security agents.
The witness, who said he was part of a team that investigated the defendant, tendered a copy of the report, which was admitted as Exhibit A.
While applying for the defendant to be convicted, the AGF argued that the law prescribed a minimum sentence of 20 years for the offence.
“We therefore urge my lord to impose the maximum sentence, at least to serve as a deterrent to others and to also show that the nation cannot condone any act of terrorism,” the AGF added.
Meanwhile, immediately after the AGF made the application, the defendant broke down in tears in the dock, begging the court to temper justice with mercy.
Delivering judgment in the matter, Justice Hawa Yilwa found the defendant guilty and sentenced him to 20 years.
The court said it took note of the charge against the defendant and “the ripple effect it has on the nation.”
It held that the defendant should be remanded in any correctional facility chosen by the Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Correctional Service to serve his sentence, which should count from the day he was arrested.
The court held that the convict should be rehabilitated and redecalised upon the completion of his prison sentence.