A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has sentenced an ISWAP leader, Hussaini Ismaila, to 20 years in prison for carrying out terrorist attacks in Kano State.
Delivering judgment on Tuesday, Justice Emeka Nwite pronounced the sentence after Ismaila, also known as Mai Tangaran, pleaded guilty to a four-count terrorism charge brought against him by the Department of State Services (DSS).
According to the DSS, Ismaila helped plan and coordinate several attacks in 2012 and these attacks targeted the Police Headquarters in Bompai, the Mobile Police Base on Kabuga Road, and police stations at Pharm Centre and Angwa Uku in Kano, where many people were injured during the attacks.
He was arrested on 31 August 2017, at a village called Tsamiyya Babba in Gezewa Local Government Area of Kano. The DSS charged him under Nigeria’s Terrorism Prevention Amendment Act.
The trial took several years because of appeals and a “trial-within-trial,” which the court used to decide whether Ismaila’s statements to investigators were made voluntarily.
During the trial, the prosecution called five witnesses, including two DSS officers and two people who witnessed some of the attacks. After the last witness testified, Ismaila changed his plea and said he was sorry for his actions.
His lawyer from the Legal Aid Council begged the court to show mercy.
Justice Nwite, in his judgment, found Ismaila guilty of the offences charged and sentenced him to 15 years in relation to count one; and 20 years on counts two, three and four.
The judge held that all sentences will run concurrently, starting from the day he was arrested on August, 2017.
The judge also ordered that Ismaila must be subjected to both rehabilitation and deradicalization after serving his term, before being reintegrated with the society.
