RismadarVoice Reporters, April 9, 2026
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Thursday sentenced a Boko Haram victim, Ali Kolo, to nine years’ imprisonment for failing to disclose information on terrorist activities but ordered his immediate release after over a decade in detention.
Kolo, who was shot in the leg by insurgents in Borno State while attempting to report their activities to the military, pleaded guilty to a one-count charge of concealing information, after being arraigned on four counts by the Federal Government.
The prosecution, led by David Kaswe, a Deputy Director in the Federal Ministry of Justice, told the court that Kolo failed to provide information about insurgents’ activities to security agencies in 2017, contrary to the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act, 2013. The prosecution tendered his extra-judicial statement and an investigation report, which were admitted as evidence.
Although the prosecution sought a 10-year jail term, the defence counsel, A.O. Usman, urged the court to temper justice with mercy, arguing that the defendant’s failure to report was due to circumstances beyond his control.
Kolo told the court he was attacked, shot with an AK-47 rifle while attempting to report the insurgents, leaving him hospitalized and unable to relay the information.
In his judgment, Justice Lifu held that while the defendant failed to disclose the information, the omission was influenced by factors beyond his control. He sentenced Kolo to nine years’ imprisonment but ruled that the sentence should take effect from 2017, when he was first detained.
The judge noted that Kolo had already spent more than 10 years in custody, ordered his immediate release to enable him seek medical treatment.
He stressed that the conviction was solely for failure to disclose information and not for involvement in terrorism, adding that the defendant had “suffered enough” and that further detention would amount to double jeopardy.
In a related case, the court sentenced a Borno State-based bricklayer, Ibrahim Buba, also known as Baba Gana, to 10 years’ imprisonment for failing to disclose information about Boko Haram activities.
Buba admitted knowing two members of the terrorist group but failing to report them. He told the court he fled from Borno to Adamawa and later to Anambra State, where he was arrested in 2023.
Despite pleading for leniency, the court sentenced him to 10 years in prison, rejecting the prosecution’s request for a 20-year term. Justice Lifu ordered that the sentence take effect from March 24, 2023, the date of his arrest.
