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By John Azu
The federal government has reiterated its commitment to stamp out terrorism and its related activities in the country as it continues the mass trial of 490 fresh suspects on Monday.
The Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), who stated this on Monday at the resumption of the trials before several courtrooms of the Federal High Court, said the government will go the whole distance to ensure that Nigeria is a safe place for all.
“The message is clear, direct and straight forward. It is that the present administration is not taking the issue of terrorism with levity,” he said.
“Since the inception of this administration, this is about the fourth phase that we are undertaking.
“So the message is that, let everybody know that terrorism in whatever form and shape, will not be tolerated; will not be condoned,” he added.
The AGF also said that overall, about 600 terror suspects would be prosecuted with an additional 84 to be brought on Tuesday, which is distinct from the 102 brought from the previous phase.
Fagbemi pointed out that about 10 judges are being devoted to the ongoing trials.
“And we have been assured by the honourable judges that they will do their utmost part to ensure that they clear this number for this phase,” he said.
The chief law enforcement officer noted that there will be compilation of the list of cases concluded.
It will be recalled that, at least, 500 suspected terrorists were tried between April 7 and April 10 at the court.
Meanwhile, the court on Monday sentenced a 55-year old farmer, Ali Mustapha, and a businessman, Umar Bashir, to 15 and 20 years imprisonment respectively.
Justice Binta Nyako sentenced Mustapha to 15 years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to the charge of concealing information on the activities of the Boko Haram sect in his Katara village in Borno State.
The judge said she took judicial notice of the plea of the convict that there was no government officials or security agencies to report to when he knew about the planned attack in the area because it was in an obscure and remote village in Borno State.
Justice Nyako ordered that the 15 years jail term should commence from 2013 when the convict was arrested and detained.
Similarly, the judge convicted and sentenced Bashir to 20 years jail term for using his business a major dealer in perfume oil business and a Point Of Sales (POS) operator, to facilitate terrorism activities of the member of the Boko Haram sect in Borno State.
The court found that he used his account number 2213629628 with the United Bank of African (UBA) to accept the sum of N5 million from a Boko Haram member, Ibrahim Modu, and later transferred same into the Access Bank account of the terrorist with number 1834250967.
The convict admitted committing the offence at the Maiduguri Money Market in 2025 and that he made a commission of N20,000 from the deal.
Upon his arraignment by the federal government on Monday, the convict admitted guilty as charged.