A 2015 senatorial candidate in Borno State has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by the Federal High Court in Abuja for selling petroleum to members of the Boko Haram sect in the state.
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The politician, identified as Babagana Habeeb, was convicted by Justice Peter Odo Lifu on a lone count charge of aiding and abetting terrorism in the country brought against him by the federal government.
Habeeb, a fuel dealer in Maiduguri, the state capital, had, upon his arraignment on the one-count charge, admitted guilt of selling fuel to the terrorists in the North-East region of the country.
He, however, claimed that his fuel attendants might have been responsible for the sales.
The politician while kneeling down in the dock for almost one hour his trial lasted, pleaded passionately with Justice Lifu to be lenient with him in the sentence.
He claimed to have two wives and six children, and that he had not been allowed to see or communicate with any member of his family for more than 10 years since he had been in detention.
Counsel for the Federal Government, lawyer, Mr. David Kaswe, however, opposed the plea of the convict for leniency, adding that the logistics support accorded to the terrorists had led to the death of several people and rendered others homeless.
Kaswe admitted that the convict had spent more than 10 years in detention and insisted that he should be given 20 years’ imprisonment.
The lawyer maintained that the Boko Haram would not have been able to use their motorcycles to launch attacks on the innocent people and escape into the bush if no one had sold fuel to them.
In his judgment, Justice Peter Lifu held that there was no evidence that the convict was a member of Boko Haram or trained in weapons, adding that the sole accusation against him was the sale of fuel to the terrorists.
The judge also held that the claim of spending more than 10 years in custody by the convict was not debunked by the prosecution.
Justice Peter Lifu subsequently sentenced the defendant to 10 years imprisonment.
He, however, ordered that the jail term should start from the date of arrest and detention of the convict.
The judge also ordered that the convict be immediately released upon the signing of his release warrant to enable him to go for extensive rehabilitation.
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