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A High Court in Abuja has sentenced the mother and sister of slain terrorist leader Kachallah Ibrahim Battujo to 40 years in prison each for supporting his terrorist activities.
The judgement was delivered on Friday by Justice Hauwa Yilwa after both women pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges filed by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation.
The convicts, Safiya Salihu and Halima Abdullahi, were found guilty of aiding and abetting terrorist activities by passing information to Battujo through phone conversations.
Also, the duo were accused of helping conceal his activities while he operated from a forest camp.
Battujo was killed by Nigerian security forces on June 10 after a failed attempt to abduct students writing the West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WAEC) in a forest in Kogi State.
Court documents showed that the women received money from the terrorist leader and shared sensitive information that could have aided his operations.
The charge read, “That you HALIMA ABDULLAHI and SAFIYA SALIHU, Female, adult, of Dungun Muaza Sabuwa LGA, Katsina State sometime in 2026 at Katsina State within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, did commit an offence, when you received the sum of four hundred and ninety thousand, three hundred Naira only (N490,300) from Battujo a known terrorist, which sum you reasonably ought to know formed part of the proceeds of Terrorism, and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under the section 21 of the Terrorism (Prevention Prohibition) Act, 2022.”
The two women pleaded guilty to three of the five-count charges but were discharged on two counts involving allegations that they received ₦490,300 believed to be proceeds of terrorism.
The discharge followed an application by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Oyedepo Rotimi (SAN).
Although each conviction carries a 20-year sentence, Justice Yilwa ruled that both sentences will run concurrently, meaning each woman will serve 40 years in total.
The court also ordered that both convicts undergo rehabilitation after completing their prison term
