The Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced former senatorial candidate in Borno State, Babagana Habeeb, to 10 years imprisonment for selling petrol to Boko Haram terrorists.
Justice Peter Lifu convicted Habeeb on Friday on a one-count charge of aiding and abetting terrorism in the country brought against him by the Federal Government.
Habeeb, who is also a fuel dealer in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, had, upon his arraignment on the one-count charge, admitted guilt of selling fuel to the terrorists but claimed his fuel station attendants may have been responsible for the sales.
While kneeling in the dock for almost an hour, Habeeb pleaded passionately with Justice Peter Lifu to be lenient, noting that his family had not been allowed to see or communicate with him for 10 years.
However, the Federal Government lawyer, David Kaswe, vehemently opposed the plea of the convict for leniency, stressing that the logistics support accorded to the terrorists had led to the deaths of several people and rendered others homeless.
Kaswe admitted that the convict had spent more than 10 years in detention and insisted that he should be given 20 years imprisonment.
The lawyer maintained that Boko Haram would not have been able to use their motorcycles to launch attacks on innocent people and escape into the bush if no one had sold fuel to them.
In his judgment, Justice Peter Lifu held that there was no evidence that the convict was a member of Boko Haram or trained in weapon handling, but that the sole accusation against him was the sale of fuel to the terrorists.
The judge also held that the prosecution did not rebut the convict’s claim of spending more than 10 years in custody.
Justice Peter Lifu subsequently sentenced the defendant to 10 years’ imprisonment and ordered that the jail term should commence from the date of the convict’s arrest and detention.
The judge ordered that the convict be immediately released upon the signing of his release warrant to enable him to undergo extensive rehabilitation.
