Thisday Bomber Jailed For Life.

ThisDay Bomber Jailed For Life
Published on November 15, 2013
by pmnews
Mustapha Umar, a self confessed
Boko Haram member arrested and
tried before a Federal High Court
siting in Abuja in connection with
the 26th April, 2012 bombing of SOJ
Plaza in Kaduna state occupied by
ThisDay, The Moment and The Sun
Newspapers, was on Friday found
guilty of the one count charge of
terrorism and sentenced for life.
The convicted terrorist was alleged
to have driven a white Honda
Academy car with registration
number AL 306 MKA with improvised
explosives devices into the premises
of SOJ plaza with the intention to
detonate improvised explosive
devices within the premises.
The incident claimed the lives of
three persons and caused several
degrees of injuries on others.
The convict had pleaded not guilty
during his trial but the court placed
heavy reliance on his recorded
interview which he granted to
investigators during interrogations
where he claimed to be a member of
the deadly Islamic fundamentalist
group, Boko Haram, as well as the
testimonies of ten witnesses
comprising of police officers who
participated in the investigation and
were led in evidence during the trial.
The prosecution drew the court’s
attention to section 4 (2) of the
Terrorism Act and asked the court to
consider the deaths recorded at the
incident and to pronounce a death
sentence on the accused but the
court declined that invitation and
pointed out that the convict was
charged against section One of the
Terrorism Prevention Act which
provides for a life sentence upon
conviction.
The court also found that the convict
demonstrated no remorse for his
actions throughout the trial and
observed that the souls of those
whose deaths were caused by his
actions are crying out for substantial
justice noting that no one’s life is
more important than that of others.
Furthermore, the court held that the
convict’s reason for attacking
ThisDay newspapers which he said
was because the newspaper was
denigrating Prophet Mohammed was
unattainable and noted that as
members of the fourth realm,
nobody should be allowed to muzzle
the press, an objective which the
terrorist act was calculated to
achieve .
Pleadings by the defence lawyer for
the court to temper justice with
mercy as the convict is a youth
whose family and aged parents
depend on for their livelihood fell on
deaf ears as the court slammed a life
sentence on the convict with a fine
of One Hundred and Fifty Million
Naira. His sentence is to be served
with hard labour.
The court further noted that the
state of mind of the convict with
which the terrorism attack was
planned, coordinated and
orchestrated reinforced its
determination to remove him from
the public for life.
To the families of the victims of the
terror act, the court awarded the
sum of One Hundred and Fifty
Million Naira, noting that their
deaths should not just go like that.
This will be forwarded to the
Committee set up by the President
on the resolution of the Boko Haram
insurgents actions for payment.
The court presided by Justice
Ademola Adeniyi also praised the
Nigeria Police Force for the expertise
and professionalism demonstrated
in the trial which led to the quality
prosecution of the matter by the
team of lawyers led by Mr. Shuaibu
Labaran, a senior state counsel from
Nigeria’s Ministry of Justice.
The case is the first conviction
recorded under the amended
Terrorism Prevention Act of 2011.
—Nnamdi Felix/Abuja
http://pmnewsnigeria.com/2013/11/15/
thisday-bomber-jailed-for-life/

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