Abuja Court Jails ISWAP Leader 20 Years for Kano Terror Attacks

A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced Husaini Ismaila, identified by security officials as a leading figure in the Islamic State West Africa Province, to 20 years in prison after he admitted responsibility for a series of deadly attacks carried out in Kano in 2012.

Justice Emeka Nwite delivered the ruling on Tuesday, concluding a years-long prosecution led by the Department of State Service. Ismaila, known as Mai Tangaran, changed his plea to guilty after the fifth prosecution witness testified, prompting his lawyer to appeal for leniency and describe his client as remorseful.

Investigators told the court that Ismaila coordinated assaults on multiple police facilities, including the Police Headquarters in Bompai, the Mobile Police Base on Kabuga Road, Pharm Centre Police Station and Angwa Uku Police Station, leaving many injured. He was arrested on August 31, 2017, in Tsamiyya Babba Village in Gezawa Local Government Area and charged under the Terrorism Prevention Amendment Act of 2013.

The case faced several delays due to appeals and a trial-within-trial to determine whether the defendant’s statements were voluntarily made. Once the trial resumed fully, the prosecution presented five witnesses, among them DSS operatives and civilians who witnessed some of the attacks.

Justice Nwite convicted Ismaila on all four counts, imposing 15 years on the first and 20 years on each of the remaining three, to run concurrently. The sentence takes effect from the day of his arrest in 2017. The court directed the Correctional Service to hold him at any facility deemed appropriate and ordered that he undergo rehabilitation and deradicalization upon completing his term before reintegration into society.