Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday sentenced Hussaini Isma’il, one of the leaders of the Boko Haram sect, to a 20-year imprisonment.
The judge convicted Isma’il, popularly known as Maitangaran, on a four-count charge of terrorism preferred against him by the Federal Government.
A copy of the judgement was made available to journalists on Wednesday.
In count one, Justice Nwite sentenced the convict to a 15-year jail term; while in counts two, three, and four, Isma’il was given a 20-year jail term each, making a total of 75 years.
The judge, however, ordered that the jail terms would concurrently beginning from the date of his arrest.
He said: “The convict shall spend the term at any appropriate correctional service facility to be chosen by the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Correctional Service, working with the state.
“It is my order that at the end of his prison term, the convict shall be rehabilitated and deradicalized at any appropriate Rehabilitation and Deradicalization Centre maintained or allowed by the federal or any state government or in any other manner chosen by the Federal Government or any state government before his release into society.”
The convict, who suddenly opted to retake his plea on Tuesday after the case had lingered for years and following the overwhelming video evidence played in open court in the previous sitting, pleaded guilty to the amended four-count charge.
The case, which was formerly before Justice Anwuli Chikere, was reassigned to Justice Nwite.
