A Federal High Court in Abuja has convicted and sentenced Hussaini Ismaila, a leading figure of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), to 20 years in prison for terrorism offences.
Justice Emeka Nwite delivered the judgment on Tuesday after Ismaila, also known as Mai Tangaran, changed his plea and admitted guilt to a four-count charge filed by the Department of State Services (DSS).
Prosecutors told the court that Ismaila coordinated several deadly attacks in Kano in 2012, including assaults on the Police Headquarters in Bompai; the Mobile Police Base on Kabuga Road; Pharm Centre Police Station; and Angwa Uku Police Station. Numerous people were injured in the coordinated strikes.
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Ismaila was arrested on August 31, 2017, in Tsamiyya Babba Village, Gezewa Local Government Area of Kano State. He was subsequently arraigned under the Terrorism Prevention Amendment Act, 2013. The case, however, dragged on for years due to interlocutory appeals and a trial-within-trial to determine whether his statements to investigators were voluntary.
At the start of the substantive trial, the prosecution called five witnesses, including two DSS operatives and two eyewitnesses to the attacks. After the fifth witness testified, Ismaila abandoned his initial not-guilty plea and opted to plead guilty.
His lawyer, P. B. Onijah of the Legal Aid Council, urged the court to consider a lighter sentence, saying the defendant was remorseful and chose not to waste judicial time.
Justice Nwite convicted him on all four counts, imposing 15 years for the first count and 20 years each for counts two, three, and four. The sentences are to run concurrently, effective from the date of his arrest in August 2017.
The court further directed the Controller-General of the Correctional Service to detain Ismaila at any facility deemed suitable and ordered that he undergo rehabilitation and deradicalisation upon completing his jail term before being reintegrated into society.
