Court jails Boko Haram victim, orders immediate release after time served

Justice Peter Odo Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced a Boko Haram victim, Ali Kolo, to nine years imprisonment for failing to report the activities of the terrorist group.

 

Kolo, who was previously shot in the leg by members of Boko Haram in Borno State, was found guilty of concealing information about the group’s activities.

 

The court heard that he failed to report the terrorists’ activities to security agencies in 2017, contrary to provisions of the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act.

 

However, during proceedings, the defendant told the court he was on his way to report the terrorists when he was attacked and severely injured.

 

In his ruling, Justice Lifu acknowledged that Kolo did not report the information but held that the failure was due to circumstances beyond his control.

 

The judge sentenced him to nine years imprisonment but ruled that the term should take effect from 2017 when he was first detained.

 

Based on this, the court ordered his immediate release, noting that he had already spent over ten years in custody and had “suffered enough.”

 

Justice Lifu emphasised that Kolo was not convicted of terrorism or membership of Boko Haram, but solely for failure to disclose information.

 

In a related development, another defendant, Ibrahim Buba, was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for similar offences.

 

Buba admitted knowing members of the terrorist group but failed to report them, opting instead to flee to different parts of the country before his arrest in 2023.

 

The court ordered that his sentence should take effect from the date of his arrest.