SAN FRANCISCO, February 12, (THEWILL) – The Federal High Court sitting in Wawa Cantonment, Kainji, Niger State, on Monday, sentenced Haruna Yahaya, 35, to 15 years imprisonment for terrorism offences.
Yahaha, crippled on his 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 also said to have participated in the group’s attacks in Chibok, Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State and Gabsuri town in the Damboa Local Government of the state.
Yahaya had, during a resumption of trials for suspected terrorists 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.
However, the Judge who sat in one of the four special courts established by the Federal High Court to fast track the trial of theover 1,000 suspects said the court was “not fooled” by Yahaya’s story.
The court noted that the convict was “using the misfortune of his handicap to draw sympathy” and therefore, ruled that the 15 years sentence passed on the convict, who had been in detention since 2015 would commence counting from Monday.
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