The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Friday sentenced the mother and sister of late bandit kingpin Kachallah Ibrahim Battujo to forty years in prison each.
The sentencing followed their conviction for abetting crime, in a judgment delivered by Justice Hauwa Yilwa
The court found Safiya Salihu and Halima Abdullahi guilt of passing information through telephone conversations to Battujo in aid of his terrorist acts.
It said those constituted an offense punishable under Section 26 of the Terrorism (Prevention) (Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Their offences included concealment of information in that they had visited the bandit kingpin’s camp in the forest, saw him in possession of firearms, but failed to disclose this to security agencies
The defendants pleaded guilty to counts 2, 4, and 5 of a five-count terrorism-related charge brought against them by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation.
In sentencing them for the above offences, Justice Yilwa discharged them on counts 1 and 3 of the charge, which alleged that they had received ₦490,300 from Battujo while aware that the funds were proceeds of terrorism.
The court ruled that the convicts ought to have known that the funds used to sponsor their pilgrimage were proceeds of terrorism, and yet went ahead with receiving it.
In doing so they therefore committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 21 of the Terrorism (Prevention) (Prohibition) Act, 2022, the court said, while however discharged them on the allegation that they had received sponsorship from the bandit leader to travel for the Hajj pilgrimage.
Some of the charges were as follows:
“That you, Halima Abdullahi and Safiya Salihu, female, adult, of Dungun Mu’aza, Sabuwa LGA, Katsina State, sometime in 2026, at Katsina State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did commit an offence when you aided and abetted the activities of Battujo, a known bandit kingpin, by passing information through telephone conversations to the said Battujo, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 26 of the Terrorism (Prevention) (Prohibition) Act, 2022
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“That you, Safiya Salihu, female, adult, of Dungun Mu’aza, Sabuwa LGA, Katsina State, sometime in 2026, at Katsina State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did commit an offence when you concealed information about the activities of Battujo, a known bandit kingpin, having visited his forest camp and seen him in possession of firearms — information you knew to be of material assistance in securing his apprehension — but failed to disclose such information to any law enforcement or security officer as soon as reasonably practicable, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 16 of the Terrorism (Prevention) (Prohibition) Act, 2022.
“That you, Halima Abdullahi, female, adult, of Dungun Mu’aza, Sabuwa LGA, Katsina State, sometime in 2026, at Katsina State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did commit an offence when you concealed information about the activities of Battujo, a suspected bandit kingpin — information you knew to be of material assistance in securing his apprehension — but failed to disclose such information to any law enforcement or security officer as soon as reasonably practicable, thereby committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 16 of the Terrorism (Prevention) (Prohibition) Act, 2022.”
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