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The Federal High Court in Wawa Cantonment, Kainji, Niger State, on Tuesday sentenced a commander of the Boko Haram terrorist group, Abba Umar, to 60 years imprisonment for various acts of terrorism.
The 22-year-old confirmed that he would return to Sambisa Forest to continue the terrorism acts if he was ever released.
Umar was 18 when he was arrested after his failed attempted suicide mission to Gombe Secondary School, Gombe State, in 2014.
Umar during the trail confirmed that 17 pictures tendered by the prosecution as exhibits showing him, the car and the IEDs used for the failed operation, were true and authentic.
He told the court “I married two wives in Sambisa Forest after joining the sect; I am an Islamic warrior, and I am a commander in the Islamic army”.
The convict who spoke in Hausa and his testimony interpreted in English during the proceedings, confirmed that as a commander in the Boko Haram sect, he had over 100 lieutenants under him.
The judge convicted him on five counts charge and decided to impose lesser sentences after taking into consideration the age of the convict and the fact that he must have been exposed to “excessive and consistent religious indoctrination.”
The judge said, “For count 3, I sentence him to 60 years imprisonment.
“I would have been more merciful but was rather dissuaded by the convict’s insistence that he would go back to the activities which constitute danger to the society and for which he was apprehended.”
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