Mustapha Umar, a self confessed
Boko Haram member arrested and tried before a Federal High Court siting in
Abuja in connection with the 26th April, 2012 bombing of SOJ Plaza in Kaduna
state occupied by ThisDay, The Moment and The Sun Newspapers, was on Friday
found guilty of the one count charge of terrorism and sentenced for life.
The convicted terrorist was
alleged to have driven a white Honda Academy car with registration number AL
306 MKA with improvised explosives devices into the premises of SOJ plaza with
the intention to detonate improvised explosive devices within the premises.
The incident claimed the lives of
three persons and caused several degrees of injuries on others.
The convict had pleaded not
guilty during his trial but the court placed heavy reliance on his recorded
interview which he granted to investigators during interrogations where he
claimed to be a member of the deadly Islamic fundamentalist group, Boko Haram,
as well as the testimonies of ten witnesses comprising of police officers who
participated in the investigation and were led in evidence during the trial.
The prosecution drew the court’s
attention to section 4 (2) of the Terrorism Act and asked the court to consider
the deaths recorded at the incident and to pronounce a death sentence on the
accused but the court declined that invitation and pointed out that the convict
was charged against section One of the Terrorism Prevention Act which provides
for a life sentence upon conviction.
The court also found that the
convict demonstrated no remorse for his actions throughout the trial and
observed that the souls of those whose deaths were caused by his actions are
crying out for substantial justice noting that no one’s life is more important
than that of others.
Furthermore, the court held that
the convict’s reason for attacking ThisDay newspapers which he said was because
the newspaper was denigrating Prophet Mohammed was unattainable and noted that
as members of the fourth realm, nobody should be allowed to muzzle the press,
an objective which the terrorist act was calculated to achieve .
Pleadings by the defence lawyer
for the court to temper justice with mercy as the convict is a youth whose
family and aged parents depend on for their livelihood fell on deaf ears as the
court slammed a life sentence on the convict with a fine of One Hundred and
Fifty Million Naira. His sentence is to be served with hard labour.
The court further noted that the
state of mind of the convict with which the terrorism attack was planned,
coordinated and orchestrated reinforced its determination to remove him from
the public for life.
To the families of the victims of
the terror act, the court awarded the sum of One Hundred and Fifty Million
Naira, noting that their deaths should not just go like that. This will be
forwarded to the Committee set up by the President on the resolution of the
Boko Haram insurgents actions for payment.
The court presided by Justice
Ademola Adeniyi also praised the Nigeria Police Force for the expertise and professionalism
demonstrated in the trial which led to the quality prosecution of the matter by
the team of lawyers led by Mr. Shuaibu Labaran, a senior state counsel from
Nigeria’s Ministry of Justice.
The case is the first conviction
recorded under the amended Terrorism Prevention Act of 2011.
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