The conviction of 500 Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists

The recent Phase 9 trial and conviction of some alleged terrorists belonging to the Boko Haram sects and the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) by the Federal Government will, to a large extent, serve as a deterrent to would-be terrorists and will help deplete the ranks of the bloodthirsty gangs.

On the first day of the proceedings, 227 defendants were arraigned before 10 Sessions Judges of the Special Court, sitting at the Federal High Court, Abuja.

The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, and the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation (DPPF), Rotimi Oyedepo, led the federal government side, while the defendants were represented by lawyers from the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria (LACON), led by its director general, Aliu Bagudu Abubakar.

Many of the defendants admitted to the crimes they were accused of, such as providing logistics, food, clothing and other materials to the insurgents, including paying the tax known as “Zakat”.

In most cases, the court handed down the minimum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment, while in some cases the maximum sentence was life imprisonment.

About 500 of the alleged terrorists held in military facilities in Kainji, Niger State, and Maiduguri, Borno State, were profiled and allowed to be arraigned at the Special Court, which held from 7 to 11 April 2026.

Fagbemi stressed that the trial was not secret, adding that international organizations such as Amnesty International, civil society organisations, the Nigerian Bar Association, international media organisations, as well as local media organizations and some private lawyers, were invited to witness the proceedings.

The director general of LACON revealed that the organization interfaced with all the defendants at the preliminary hearing to help their defense. Abubakar said the new additions to the list were interviewed in Abuja ahead of their court hearing.

He noted that many of the defendants have pleaded guilty to the charges, thus making the case less burdensome for the court.

Reacting to the case of the defendants convicted of paying taxes to Boko Haram, Abubakar said: “When you pay money or when you give agricultural produce to Boko Haram, to appease them, it is considered part of terrorist financing.”

He revealed that some of the accused were not active members of Boko Haram and ISWAP but were convicted of association with the insurgents.

He said: “According to the law, conspiracy is considered as serious as committing a crime. Some of them have been convicted of conspiracy. Fortunately, I can say that one or two people have been discharged and acquitted.

“And you can imagine that someone who has been detained for almost four or five years in military custody being discharged and acquitted, it shows that the process has some level of transparency going on.”

In one of the proceedings, Justice Binta Nyako sentenced a major food supplier to Boko Haram terrorists in Borno State, Hamatu Modu, to 40 years in prison for his involvement in terrorist activities.

Modu had pleaded guilty to all four charges brought against him by the federal government.

The court subsequently sentenced him to 10 years on each of the four counts, but due to the request of the defense lawyer, the judge ordered that the 40 years of imprisonment should be served concurrently, giving the convict the possibility of spending only 10 years.

Another food supplier in Borno state, also jailed for 10 years by Nyako, has had his sentence backdated to three years ago when he was arrested and detained by the federal government.

The judge ordered that the convicts undergo rehabilitation and deradicalization upon completion of their prison terms.

In another decision, a father of three, Sheu Buka, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for selling goats to Boko Haram terrorists in Borno state.

While rejecting the convict’s request for clemency, the judge considered that the issue of terrorism had become worrying in practically all parts of the country.

Similarly, a father of six, Hamza Yahuza, was sentenced to seven years in prison for selling hemp and Indian cigarettes to Boko Haram terrorists in Borno state.

Yahuza admitted in court that he committed the crime in 2023 and asked the court for forgiveness. He also admitted to supplying various drugs to terrorists in some parts of Monguno Local Government Area of ​​Borno State.

In her opinion, Nyako disagrees that it was poverty that pushed Yahuza to supply drugs, Indian hemp and cigarettes to Boko Haram members.

Nyako imposed seven years’ imprisonment on him, but ordered the sentence to run from March 6, 2023, the date the convict was taken into custody.

Blueprint was impressed by the expedited trial and conviction of some Phase 9 terrorists. The action is a clear signal that terrorism and criminality in any form will not be condoned or tolerated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a renewed governing hopeful.

It is, however, our opinion that although the prosecution and conviction of terrorists is a vital component of the fight against terrorism, considering its objective of deterrence, the federal government should adopt a more aggressive mechanism to decisively end terrorism and its devastating effects on the country.