BEVERLY HILLS, CA, December 20, (THEWILL) – The mastermind of the 2011 Christmas Day bombing of a Catholic Church in Madalla, Niger State, Kabiru Umar, aka Kabiru Sokoto has been sentenced to life in prison by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.
The bombing left 44 persons dead while 75 others were wounded.
UPDATE:
It was judgement day for Kabiru Umar, a.k.a Kabiru Sokoto, the prime suspect in the 2011 Christmas day bombing at the St Theresa Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger State as he was given a life jail term on Friday by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.
His conviction came six months after his trial on a two-count charge of terrorism by the Federal Government began as he was first arraigned on April 19.
Kabiru Sokoto was accused of training over 500 men on the manufacturing and detonation of Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs and having a foreknowledge of the plan by Boko Haram to bomb the church on Christmas day without reporting to the authorities..
About 44 persons were killed and 75 others wounded in the bombing incident.
He was also accused to have between 2007 and 2012, at Mabira Sokoto, Sokoto State, facilitated the commission of terrorist acts including planting bombs at the police headquarters and some government organisations in the state.
He however pleaded not guilty to the charges as his counsel , Hassan Lukman, pleaded with the court to dismiss the charges, saying the prosecutor had failed to establish a prima-facie case capable of warranting his trial and conviction.
But delivering his judgement on Friday, Justice Adeniyi Ademola ruled that the court has established that Kabiru Sokoto was the mastermind of the 2011 Christmas day bombing, saying the accused person did not deny the evidence brought against him.
The judge further held that the court agreed with the prosecution that the case against the accused had been proved beyond reasonable doubt, stressing that the two statements of the accused person was admitted in evidence without opposition from the defence counsel.
Justice Ademola however held that the fact that the accused denied the commission of the offence in his oral testimony did not affect the testimonies of the witnesses brought by the prosecution.
He also noted that the accused person was a pathological liar who deceived the court that he did not understand English Language when it was evident before the court that he (Sokoto) had four credits in the West African Examination Council(WAEC) and also worked as a Laboratory Scientist.
He further noted that the accused person during the trial did not show any remorse as the court held that the accused was guilty of carrying terrorist attack in Sokoto State and also aware of the bombing of the Catholic Church in Madalla but failed to report to security agents.
“In the final analysis, the accused person, Kabiru Umaru, a.k.a Kabiru Sokoto, member of an illegal terrorist group, Boko Haram, did facilitate terrorist attack in Mabira, Sokoto state and on other government agencies and thereby committed an offense and punishable under Section 15(2) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC Act.
“You are also guilty of having a prior knowledge of the bombing of the Madalla Catholic Church and failed to disclose same to any of the security agents, thereby committing an offence and punishable under Section 71 of the Terorrism Prevention Act 2011.
“The first charge attracts a life imprisonment while the second charge attracts 10 years imprisonment. The court takes cognizance that the attack on Madalla Catholic Church was a Christmas day which is celebrated by everybody irrespective of the tribe and religion, such act is barbaric and devilish.
“The accused person is accordingly sentenced to life imprisonment on the first count and 10 years on the second count and it should run consecutively,” the judge ruled.
Kabiru Sokoto had urged the court to discharge and acquit him on the ground that none of the six witnesses that testified against him in court was able to establish a nexus, linking him to the alleged terrorist act.
He further queried the propriety of allowing him to undergo trial “in view of the fact that the prosecution has failed to tender any evidence connecting him to the alleged offence.”
The last prosecution witness had told the court that Kabiru Sokoto confessed that one of the leaders of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, told him that only members of the sect who had been initiated into the “Shurah” cadre, were allowed to know the ideology behind the current insurgency in the northern parts of the country.
The witness said Kabiru Sokoto had further disclosed that whereas members of the “Shurah” which he belonged to, plan and mastermind attacks, others were recruited to execute terrorist agenda of the sect.
But counsel to the accused faulted the testimony of the masked witness, maintaining that he used the Hausa word “Anche” in his statement, a word he said meant “they said.”
He told the court that he was only referring to what he was told by those affiliated to the sect.
Also, one of the witnesses had earlier narrated before the court how a donation of N40million allegedly caused division among members of the sect.
According to the witness, Sokoto had in a statement he made on January 14, 2012, confessed that out of the said N40million which he said was received from another terrorist group in Algeria, he got N500, 000, being the recognised Governor of Sokoto State in the hierarchy of the group.
The accused however filed a no-case submission, arguing that the prosecution had not established a prima facie case against him.
