A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has sentenced a Nigerian politician, Babagana Habeeb, to 10 years in prison for supplying petrol to Boko Haram insurgents.
The judgment was delivered on Friday by Peter Lifu, who found the former senatorial candidate from Borno State guilty of supporting terrorist activities.
The conviction followed a one-count charge filed by the Federal Government, accusing him of aiding and supporting terrorism.
Habeeb, a fuel dealer based in Maiduguri, admitted in court that petrol from his station got into the hands of the insurgents.
However, he tried to deny direct responsibility by suggesting that his attendants may have carried out the transactions without his knowledge.
During the court proceedings, Habeeb broke down and begged the judge for mercy. He said he had already suffered a lot and added that his family had not seen or spoken to him for about 10 years.
The prosecution counsel, David Kaswe, rejected his appeal for mercy. He argued that the offence was too serious to deserve sympathy.
According to him, the fuel supplied helped the insurgents in their operations, including carrying out attacks and escaping quickly.
Kaswe told the court that without fuel, the insurgents would have found it difficult to carry out many of their attacks. He linked the act to the loss of lives and destruction of communities in the North-East and asked the court to give a stricter sentence of 20 years.
In his ruling, Justice Lifu said there was no evidence that Habeeb was a member of Boko Haram or that he had training in handling weapons. He stated that the only proven offence was the sale of petrol to the group.
The judge also noted that the prosecution did not challenge the claim that Habeeb had already spent more than 10 years in detention before the trial ended.
Based on these findings, the court sentenced him to 10 years in prison. Justice Lifu ruled that the sentence would start from the date of his initial arrest and detention.
He added that Habeeb should be released immediately after completing the sentence, once the necessary documents are signed. The court also directed that he should undergo proper rehabilitation after his release.
