Court Jails Chibok Girls’ Abductor For 15 years

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In this photo taken from video by Nigeria's Boko Haram terrorist network, Monday May 12, 2014 shows the alleged missing girls abducted from the northeastern town of Chibok. The new video purports to show dozens of abducted schoolgirls, covered in jihab and praying in Arabic. It is the first public sight of the girls since more than 300 were kidnapped from a northeastern school the night of April 14 exactly four weeks ago. (AP Photo)

The Federal High Court sitting in Wawa Cantonment, Kainji, Niger State, on Monday sentenced 35-year-old Haruna Yahaya to 15 years imprisonment for terrorism offences.

Yahaya, whose left arm and left leg are crippled, was convicted for being a member of the proscribed Boko Haram terrorist group and participating in the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State, in 2014.

He was said to have participated in Boko Haram’s attacks in Chibok, Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State and Gabsuri town in the Damboa Local Government Area of the state.

Yahaya had on Monday pleaded guilty to the two counts preferred against him by the Federal Government, but pleaded for mercy, saying he was forcefully conscripted into the terrorist group.

Four judges of the Federal High Court are sitting in the special courts established in Kainji by the court management to fast-track the trial of over 1,000 suspects currently held in the Wawa Cantonment.

The National Human Rights Commission and the Nigerian Bar Association were on the ground to observe the proceedings.

The defendants are being prosecuted by lawyers from the Federal Ministry of Justice while they are being defended by lawyers from the Legal Aid Council.

The Monday’s proceedings which commenced at about noon were still going on as of when the report was filed at about 7.30pm.

 

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