Two people were reported killed in the Federal Republic of Nigeria political capital of Abuja when a bomb was placed at the national police headquarters. Authorities suspected the northern-based Boko Haram., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.
Four Boko Haram members get life jail over Suleja bombings
TUESDAY, 09 JULY 2013 00:00
FROM LAOLU AKANDE (NEW YORK), ISA ABDULSALAMI AHOVI (JOS), LEMMY UGHEGBE, JOHNOKEKE (ABUJA), NJADVARA MUSA (MAIDUGURI) AND KOLAWOLE TIMOTHY (LOKOJA) (WITH AGENCY REPORT)
Nigerian Guardian
• Sagay, others hail verdict
• Vigilance group captures terror suspects
• UN, others deplore Yobe killings
THE Federal High Court, Abuja Division, Tuesday slammed a life sentence on four of six persons brought before it for trial on a five-count charge of terrorism following their alleged complicity in the bombing of an office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on April 8, 2011 and at a political rally on March 3, 2011 in Suleja, Niger State.
Those sentenced to life imprisonment are Shuaibu Abubakar, Salisu Ahmed, Umar Babagana-Umar and Mohamed Ali.
Meanwhile, some prominent lawyers in Lagos lauded the jailing of the Boko Haram members.
In a related development, the Vigilance Youths Group (BVYG) in Borno State has captured nine terror suspects and recovered arms in Bolori, Zajeri and Mairi areas of Maiduguri metropolis.
In the same vein, the United Nations (UN) and the Christian Association of Nigerian-Americans (CANAN) yesterday urged the Federal Government to fish out the perpetrators of last week’s killing of school children and teachers in Yobe State.
Similarly, a fact-finding team of senior officers from Defence Headquarters is in Yobe State for an on-the-spot assessment of deployment of troops of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in the state.
To mitigate their hardship, Taroh Students Association has donated some relief materials to those displaced during Magama Karakashi and Bolgang violence in Langtang South Local Council of Plateau State.
And, an appeal has come from the Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) to Boko Haram to implement its ceasefire pact and embrace peace in the national interest.
Moreover, a civil society group, National Working Group on Armed Violence (NWGAV), has pledged to ensure that the menace of violence is reduced to the barest minimum.
The trial judge, Justice Bilikisu Aliyu, was more lenient with Umar Ibrahim as he bagged a 10-year jail term, while another accused, Musa Adamu, was freed for want of sufficient evidence to link him to the crime.
According to the charge preferred against them by the Department of State Security (DSS), they caused the death of 16 persons at the INEC office in Suleja and Dakna Village in Bwari through the use of an improvised explosive device on March 3 and May 23, 2011.
They were also charged with the July 10, 2011 explosions at All Christians Fellowship, Suleja, killing three and injuring others; March 3, 2011 explosion at a political rally in Suleja, where three people died; and May 23, 2011 explosion in Dakina Village, Bwari, Abuja, killing three policemen.
They were equally charged with engaging in illegal training in weapons handling and unlawful possession of weapons for the purpose of engaging in terrorism.
They were charged under Section 15(2) and (3) of the Economic and Financial Crimes (EFCC) Act.
However, Aliyu discharged them on the charges relating to the explosions at All Christians Fellowship and killing of policemen in Dakina on the premise that the prosecution failed to establish a nexus between the accused persons and the criminal act.
While sentencing the four, Aliyu said: “They used explosives meant for blasting rocks for mining purposes, to kill human beings who had done nothing against them. Human life is sacred. There is no human life that is more sacred than the other. The convicts have shown lack of respect for human life. They deserve to be removed from the society.”
For Umar Ibrahim, who got 10 years, Aliyu observed that the evidence led by the prosecution showed that he was a common errand boy for others, who engaged in the illegal weapons training. On that score, she reduced his offence to aiding and abetting the illegal trainees as he could have refused to run errand for them if he was not in support of their activities.
A constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the judgment would help stem the tide of impunity and wanton killings.
Sagay said: “This is an exceptional case in which the state has finally restored order and authority because people believe that they can kill for any reason and get away with it.”
Also, Executive Director, Access to Justice, Mr. Joseph Otteh, said the judgment was a timely judicial response to the upsurge of terrorism.
He added: “In some ways, it is a vindication of the rule of law and it will dissuade the use of terrorist tactics to fight ideological causes.
“Even though the sentencing will not bring back any of the victims, it will create some semblance that we still live in a state where we have laws.”
The president, Voters Awareness Initiative, a non-governmental organisation, Mr. Wale Ogunade, said: “We have always clamoured for quick dispensation of justice because we believe that justice delayed is justice denied. It was a very good judgment and the time was very fast.”
The BVYG chairman, Abubakar Mallum yesterday in Maiduguri told The Guardian: “With the co-operation our members are receiving from both residents and the JTF in Maiduguri metropolis, we are able to make more arrests in Bolori, Zajeri and Mairi areas of the State capital. Our boys were also able to recover some guns on Monday.
“In Bolori ward, one of the arrested suspects (name withheld) was also found with a list of those to be killed during the Ramadan and was written in Hausa language. The arrested suspects were handed over to the sector commanders of JTF for further investigation.”
Also, the JTF’s spokesman, Lt.-Col. Sagir Musa, confirmed the arrests by the vigilance group.
According to a statement from the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Leila Zerrougui, the global body “strongly condemns the violent attack on a school and the targeted killing of students and their teachers over the weekend in Yobe State, in North-eastern Nigeria.”
The statement, which called for a prompt investigation and accountability by serving justice to the perpetrators, warned “that the killing and maiming of children, as well as attacks on schools, teachers and school children are serious violations of international law.” It demanded that “the Nigerian Government investigate these heinous crimes and hold the perpetrators accountable.”
Also, CANAN said in a statement that the “massacre,” is a setback in the fight against terrorism and “calls on the government to urgently do the needful by investigating exactly what happened and ensure justice is done swiftly.’’
According to Director, Defence Information, Brig.-Gen. Chris Olukolade, the team is to pay particular attention to the security circumstances around the attack on Government Secondary School, Mamudo near Potiskum.
The team, led by the Chief of Research and Development in the Defence Headquarters, will visit troops deployed in remote locations in Yobe State to verify the effectiveness of patrols and cordon and search operations directed at forestalling any further breach of security and tracking down perpetrators of the weekend attack.
He said that the team is expected to brief the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) in respect of any requirement for additional troops and logistics for the operation in Yobe State.
The FIDA’s Country Vice President, Mrs. Evelyn Hauwa Shekarau who made the call yesterday while speaking during the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the federation held in Lokoja, noted that crisis would stall national development.
According to her, “we in FIDA strongly condemn the level of insecurity in the country which had led to the wastage of innocent lives especially women and children which FIDA is established to protect. We are calling on the leadership of Boko Haram to drop their arms and embrace peace”.
The students also called on relevant security operatives in the state to beef up security in the affected villages to stop a recurrence of such an attack.
Presenting the relief materials to the traditional ruler of Langtang South Ponzhi Paul Galle, the association’s president, Joshua Nandom James, described the attacks as callous.
In a speech at the launch of an interim report on “mapping efforts against armed violence in Nigeria, NWGAV’s Southeast Co-ordinator, Emeka Ononamadu, said the report would assist stakeholders work out ways of armed violence intervention they may wish to embark on.
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