Hussaini Ismaila, a leader of the Islamic State West Africa Province, was sentenced to 20 years in jail by the Federal High Court in Abuja for crimes related to terrorism.
After Ismaila, also known as Mai Tangaran, amended his plea from not guilty to guilty on four counts brought under the Terrorism Prevention (Amendment) Act, 2013, Justice Emeka Nwite rendered the verdict on Tuesday.
In 2012, Ismaila was charged with planning coordinated assaults on police formations in Kano State.
Numerous persons were reportedly hurt when he attacked the Police Headquarters in Bompai, the Mobile Police Base on Kabuga Road, the Pharm Centre Police Station, and the Angwa Uku Police Station.
On August 31, 2017, he was taken into custody in the Gezawa Local Government Area of Kano State’s Tsamiyya Babba Village.
Interlocutory appeals and a trial-within-trial to ascertain the voluntariness of his extrajudicial remarks caused delays in the trial.
Five witnesses, including operatives and eyewitnesses, were contacted by the Department of State Services.
Ismaila altered his plea after the fifth witness testified.
His lawyer, P. B. Onijah of the Legal Aid Council, pointing out that Ismaila was repentant and had entered a guilty plea to save more delays, begged with the court to temper justice with kindness.
He was sentenced to 15 years for count one and 20 years for counts two, three, and four, to be served concurrently, after Justice Nwite found him guilty on all four counts.
The punishment became effective on August 31, 2017, the day of his arrest.
In addition, the judge mandated that Ismaila undergo deradicalization and rehabilitation after serving his sentence.
The trial of two suspected Ansaru leaders, Abubakar Abba and Mahmud Usman, has been postponed until January 15, 2026.
The DSS has filed a 32-count complaint against the defendants, alleging that they committed a variety of crimes between 2015 and 2024, including kidnapping, terrorism financing, unlawful mining, and arms procurement.
Usman has denied the other charges but entered a guilty plea to Count 10, which relates to an economic offense.
He had already received a 15-year sentence for engaging in illicit mining to finance kidnapping and terrorism. Abba has entered a not guilty plea to each accusation.
According to the charges, the two bombed the Wawa Military Cantonment in Niger State, received training in improvised explosives and weapons handling, abducted security personnel, including an immigration officer and a customs officer who were later killed, and demanded millions of naira in ransom payments to buy weapons and train followers in Sudan and Mali.
Throughout the proceedings on Wednesday, defense attorney B. In order to enable access for the trial, I. Bakum asked that the defendants be moved to a correctional facility. However, DSS counsel David Kaswe objected, citing procedural restrictions.
Justice Nwite instructed the defense to follow the correct procedure when obtaining access to their clients and postponed the case to January 15, 2026.
