Court Sentences Boko Haram Terrorist To 30 Years In Prison

A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced a self-confessed Boko Haram member, Abubakar Goni, to 30 years in prison for admitting that he knowingly joined the terrorist group more than 15 years ago.

However, Justice Binta Nyako ruled that the sentence would count from 2016, when the Department of State Services (DSS) arrested him and placed him in detention.

Goni, from Daira village in Gubi Local Government Area of Yobe State, was sentenced on Friday after admitting to membership of the proscribed terrorist group, Naija News reports.

The Federal Government had filed a five-count charge against him, accusing him of belonging to Boko Haram, receiving training in the use of AK-47 rifles, attacking civilians and looting food belonging to other people to feed members of the group.

He was also accused of participating in attacks on communities in Niger Republic before his arrest by the DSS in 2016.

When the charges were read to him in court, Goni admitted being a member of Boko Haram but denied the other allegations.

Following his admission, Justice Nyako invoked Section 16(1) of the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act, 2013, to sentence him to 30 years in prison.

Earlier, Goni’s lawyer, Dauda Hassan, had appealed to the court to show mercy to his client and impose the minimum sentence.

Hassan argued that Goni had admitted the offence voluntarily without wasting the court’s time.

The judge also considered that Goni was a first-time offender before ordering that his jail term should begin from 2016, when he was arrested and detained by the DSS.

Justice Nyako further directed the Federal Ministry of Interior to determine the prison where Goni would serve his sentence.