•Convicted Halima Umar
Justice Hauwa Yilwa of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has sentenced a woman, Halima Haliru Umar, to 20 years’ imprisonment following her conviction on the offences of unlawful possession of 302 rounds of AK-47 live ammunition and attempting to render support for the commission of acts of terrorism.
The convict had, during her arraignment on March 11, pleaded guilty to two counts contained in a four-count charge brought against her by the Department of State Services (DSS), which arrested her in Plateau State, reports Channels TV.
The facts of the offences charged in counts three and four, to which she pleaded guilty, were reviewed after her arraignment, following which Justice Hauwa Yilwa adjourned for judgment in relation to the two counts that she admitted.
In her judgment, Justice Yilwa noted that the convict pleaded guilty to counts three and four on the four-count charge on the day of her arraignment.
The judge added that by her guilty plea, she admitted the facts as presented by the prosecution, without presenting any evidence in her defence.
Following the defendant’s conviction, the defence lawyer, Hamza Dantani, pleaded with the court to be lenient in dispensing the judgment against the defendant.
Dantani said the convict is a first-time offender who is remorseful. He added that she did not waste the time of the court in relation to counts three and four.
The defence lawyer told the court that his client is a nursing mother of a one-year-old child who was arrested with her and prayed the court to temper justice with mercy.
Counsel for the Prosecution, Caliistus Eze, said the prosecution has no record of the convict’s previous conviction.
Justice Yilwa, who suspended proceedings briefly, later returned to pronounce her sentence by sentencing the convict to 20 years on count three and to one year on count four.
The judge adjourned till July 9 for the prosecution to commence trial in respect of counts one and two of the charge, to which the convict pleaded not guilty.
