A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced a commander of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), Hussaini Ismaila, to 20 years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to multiple terrorism charges.
Justice Emeka Nwite delivered the judgment on Tuesday, convicting Ismaila—also known as Mai Tangaran—on a four-count charge filed by the Department of State Services (DSS).
According to the prosecution, Ismaila coordinated a series of coordinated attacks in Kano State in 2012, targeting key police formations. The attacks included bombings at the Police Headquarters in Bompai, the Mobile Police Base on Kabuga Road, Pharm Centre Police Station, and Angwa Uku Police Station, among others, leaving many people injured.
Ismaila was arrested on August 31, 2017, in Tsamiyya Babba village, Gezewa Local Government Area of Kano State, and subsequently charged under the Terrorism Prevention Amendment Act, 2013. His trial was repeatedly delayed due to interlocutory appeals and a trial-within-trial to determine the voluntariness of his statements.
During the trial, the DSS called five witnesses, including two officers and two eyewitnesses who testified about the coordinated attacks. Although Ismaila initially pleaded not guilty, he changed his plea to guilty after the fifth prosecution witness testified.
His lawyer, P. B. Onijah of the Legal Aid Council, pleaded for leniency, telling the court that the defendant had shown remorse and opted not to waste judicial time.
Justice Nwite, however, convicted him on all counts, sentencing him to 15 years on the first count and 20 years each on the remaining three. The sentences will run concurrently. The court also ruled that the jail term should be calculated from the date of his arrest in 2017.
The judge further directed the Controller-General of the Nigeria Correctional Service to confine Ismaila in any designated facility and ordered that he undergo rehabilitation and deradicalization after completing his prison term before reintegration into society.
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