The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Friday, sentenced Umar Mustapha, mastermind of April 26, 2012 bombing of ThisDay Newspapers in Kaduna to life imprisonment with hard labour.
The convict was also fined the sum of N150 million, which the court ordered should be shared among the families of the three persons who lost their lives in the blast.
In the judgment, Justice Ademola Adeniyi held that the prosecution proved the allegation against Mustapha beyond reasonable doubt.
Adeniyi said that the defence put up by the convict that he was on his way to the market when he was arrested was unfounded.
“I have taken quality time to study the addresses of counsel to the parties in this criminal trial. I have also confined the decision of the court to pure law and nothing else.
“In the circumstance, I find the accused person, Umar Mustapha, guilty of the offence as charged.
“He is therefore sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labour on the grounds that he did commit a terrorist act by bombing SOJ Plaza housing ThisDay Newspaper on April 26, 2012 in Kaduna,” he said.
He said that the act violated both Sections 12 (2d) and 33 (1a) of the Terrorism Prevention Act, 2011.
“The convict is equally fined the sum of N150 million to be shared among the families of the three victims who died in the blast,’’ he added.
The police had filed a one-count charge against Mustapha under the Terrorism Act but the convict pleaded not guilty of the offence.
During proceedings in the case, the defence counsel, Mr Sulyman Nurunee, had prayed the court to determine if it could convict his client based on testimonies from masked prosecution witnesses whose names and addresses were unknown.
He argued that the court should not rely on the evidence of group of persons masked and without actual names and dependable addresses to convict an innocent man.
“We are totally opposed to the attempt to bend the country’s constitution to excommunicate my client,’’ he had said.
Nurunee had also urged the court to determine whether a mere presence of the accused person as a passerby at the scene of the incident made him liable of the offence.
But the prosecutor, Mr Shuaibu Magaji, countered Nurunee’s contention on the wearing of masks by witnesses and said that a valid order of the court obliged it as protective measure.
Magaji said the convict admitted to be responsible for the plot and execution of the suicide bombing.
According to him, the convict further confessed on video that he wished to die doing the will of Allah by eliminating unbelievers.
He therefore urged the court to convict and sentence Umar based on the available evidence.
After the judgment, the defence counsel pleaded for leniency from the court, saying that the convict was the bread winner of his family.
