A federal high court in Abuja has sentenced Hussaini Isma’il, a Boko Haram commander known as Maitangaran, to 20 years in prison after he entered a guilty plea to terrorism-related charges.
Gatekeepers News reports that the judgment, delivered on Tuesday by Justice Emeka Nwite, affirmed that Isma’il was guilty on all four counts brought against him by the federal government.
Although the individual counts carried a combined total of 75 years, with 15 years for the first count and 20 years each for the remaining charges, the court directed that the terms run concurrently, starting from the day he was arrested.
Justice Nwite said that Isma’il will serve his sentence in a suitable correctional facility designated by the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Correctional Service.
The court also ordered that he undergo rehabilitation and deradicalisation at a government-approved centre after completing his jail term.
The matter, initially assigned to retired Justice Anwuli Chikere, experienced lengthy delays due to appeals and a trial-within-trial aimed at determining whether the defendant’s statements were voluntarily made.
The case was later reassigned to Nwite. Isma’il had previously denied the charges, but changed his plea after the prosecution tendered video evidence showing him addressing Boko Haram fighters and giving orders for attacks.
Following the plea shift, defence counsel P. B. Onijah of the Legal Aid Council appealed for leniency, saying his client had shown remorse and did not intend to prolong the case.
The prosecution presented five witnesses, including two Department of State Services (DSS) operatives and two individuals who witnessed attacks linked to the defendant.
According to the amended charge filed on October 3, 2023, the 34-year-old defendant from Brithi village in Biu LGA, Borno State, openly professed membership of Boko Haram in August 2018.
He was also accused of involvement in major terror incidents, including the 2016 attack on Kano Central Mosque, where he later appeared in a video confessing alongside other suspects still at large.
Additional allegations tied him to the 2014 assault on the Mobile Police Base along Kabuga Road in Kano, which led to the deaths of police officers, as well as the 2014 attack on Ungwa Uku Police Station in the same state.
Justice Nwite concluded that the federal government had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt and convicted Isma’il accordingly.
