Federal High Court Orders Release of Boko Haram Victim After Over 10 Years in Detention | Nigeria News Today
By Queen Madaki
A Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the immediate release of a Boko Haram victim, Ali Kolo, after he spent more than 10 years in detention, despite being sentenced to nine years imprisonment.
The Bureau News reports that Justice Peter Odo Lifu delivered the ruling after finding Kolo guilty of failing to report activities of the terrorist group, contrary to the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act, 2013.
Kolo, who was shot in the leg by Boko Haram insurgents in Borno State, had initially faced a four-count charge before pleading guilty to one count bordering on concealment of information.
According to the prosecution, led by Mr. David Kaswe of the Federal Ministry of Justice, the defendant failed to relay information on terrorist activities to security agencies in 2017.
“The defendant admitted failure to provide information to relevant authorities,” the prosecution stated.
However, the defence told the court that Kolo was on his way to report the terrorists when he was attacked and shot, leaving him hospitalised and unable to complete the mission.
In his judgment, Justice Lifu held that although the defendant failed to report the information, the circumstances were beyond his control.
The court sentenced him to nine years imprisonment but ruled that the sentence should take effect from 2017, the year of his arrest.
The Bureau News gathered that having already spent over a decade in custody, the judge ordered his immediate release, stating that further detention would amount to double jeopardy.
“The convict has suffered enough and should be allowed to seek medical attention,” the judge ruled.
In a related development, the court sentenced another defendant, Ibrahim Buba, to 10 years imprisonment for failing to disclose information about Boko Haram activities.
Buba admitted knowing members of the group but failed to report them, instead fleeing across states before his arrest in 2023.
The court ordered that his sentence should begin from March 24, 2023.
The Bureau News reports that the ruling reflects ongoing judicial efforts to enforce anti-terrorism laws while balancing justice with humanitarian considerations in Nigeria News Today.
