The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has sentenced a woman, Halima Haliru Umar, to 20 years’ imprisonment following her conviction on the offences of unlawful possession of 302 rounds of AK-47 live ammunition and attempting to render support for the commission of acts of terrorism.
The convict had, during her arraignment on March 11, pleaded guilty to two counts contained in a four-count charge brought against her by the Department of State Services (DSS).
In her judgment, Justice Yilwa noted that the convict pleaded guilty to counts three and four on the four-count charge on the day of her arraignment stressing that by her guilty plea, she admitted the facts as presented by the prosecution, without presenting any evidence in her defence.
Following the defendant’s conviction, the defence lawyer, Hamza Dantani, pleaded with the court to be lenient in dispensing the judgment against the defendant stating that the convict is a first-time offender who is remorseful.
Justice Yilwa, sentenced the convict to 20 years on count three and to one year on count four and adjourned till July 9 for the prosecution to commence trial in respect of counts one and two of the charge, to which the convict pleaded not guilty.
