The Department of State Services (DSS) is set to appeal two recent judgments delivered by Federal and State High Courts, expressing dissatisfaction with the prison terms imposed on three men convicted in separate terrorism-related cases.
Security sources said the Service considers the sentences inadequate given the gravity of the offences. A Federal High Court in Kano sentenced Jamilu Ibrahim to 32 years’ imprisonment and Rayya Haruna to 10 years’ imprisonment, while a Katsina State High Court sentenced the 80-year-old village head of Salihawa in Safana Local Government Area, Audu Adamu Tubali, to 10 years in prison.
The three convicts were arrested by DSS operatives in separate operations that led to the recovery of large caches of arms and ammunition. According to the Service, the weapons were intended to support terrorist and bandit networks. Ibrahim was arrested by DSS officers with a large cache of arms and ammunition the prosecution said he planned to deliver to a Katsina -based bandit kingpin called Karami. DSS officers arrested him with four Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) and 832 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition meant for AK-47 rifles.
According to the security source, the DSS viewed the three sentences as a “slap on the wrist” when compared to the gravity of their offences. He pointed to precedent judgements on similar arms-trafficking cases secured by the DSS.
The source cited the case of Hauwa’u Mukhtar, a female arms courier recently sentenced to death by a Federal High Court sitting in Katsina State.
The convict was arrested by DSS operatives at Jibia Motor Park, Katsina State, while attempting to transport 438 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition to a notorious bandit kingpin in the Dunburum Forest area of Zamfara State.
“Where the courts have found it fit to impose the maximum penalty in cases involving the transportation of arms to bandit and terrorist networks, the DSS believes that similar treatment should be meted on Ibrahim, Haruna and Tubali, moreso as the weapons found on them are more lethal than those found on the lady sentenced to death by hanging,” argued the source.
“The Service believes in fairness to all, and will explore all available legal options to ensure that the full weight of the law is made to bear on all who run foul of it without fear or favour,” he added.
Another source described the proposed appeals, as part of the Service’s broader push to secure judicial outcomes that serve as stronger deterrents against arms trafficking and support for terrorist and bandit networks across the country
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