Hauwa Yilwa of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has sentenced a woman, Halima Haliru Umar, to 20 years’ imprisonment after convicting her for unlawful possession of 302 rounds of AK-47 live ammunition and attempting to support acts of terrorism.
The convict pleaded guilty on March 11 to two counts in a four-count charge filed against her by the Department of State Services, which arrested her in Plateau State.
The court reviewed the facts relating to counts three and four, to which she admitted guilt, before adjourning for judgment on the charges.
In her judgment, Justice Yilwa noted that the defendant pleaded guilty during her arraignment and, by doing so, accepted the facts presented by the prosecution without offering any defence.
Following the conviction, defence counsel, Hamza Dantani, appealed to the court for leniency.
Dantani argued that the convict was a first-time offender who showed remorse and did not waste the court’s time regarding the charges she admitted.
He also informed the court that his client is a nursing mother of a one-year-old child who was arrested alongside her and urged the judge to temper justice with mercy.
Counsel for the prosecution, Caliistus Eze, told the court that the prosecution had no record of any previous conviction against the defendant.
After briefly suspending proceedings, Justice Yilwa returned to deliver judgment, sentencing the convict to 20 years’ imprisonment on count three and one year on count four.
The court adjourned the matter until July 9 for the commencement of trial on counts one and two, to which the defendant pleaded not guilty.