“Seven-Year Sentence for Vendor Caught Selling Cannabis and Cigarettes to Boko Haram”

Justice Binta Fatima Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja has condemned a father of six, Hamza Yahuza, to seven years of imprisonment for distributing cannabis and cigarettes to Boko Haram militants in Borno State.

Yahuza on Tuesday confessed in the public court to perpetrating the crime in 2023 and pleaded with the court earnestly for clemency.

The offender is one among over 500 individuals presented to various courts for prosecution by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice for facilitating and supporting terrorism against the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He also acknowledged providing various narcotics to the militants in certain areas of Monguno local government in Borno.

Following his admission, the 40-year-old requested clemency, which Justice Binta Fatima Nyako denied.

The judge also dismissed his assertions that his financial struggles drove him to supply narcotics, cannabis, and cigarettes to the Boko Haram insurgents.

Justice Nyako imposed a seven-year sentence on him but mandated that the punishment should commence from March 6, 2023, when the offender was captured and incarcerated.