Court jails Chinese national, 19 Nigerians over terrorism in Kebbi
The Federal High Court in Birnin Kebbi has convicted and sentenced a Chinese national and 19 Nigerians for offences including terrorism, illegal possession of firearms and vandalism of critical national infrastructure.…
Federal High Courts across Nigeria have increasingly been used to prosecute terrorism-related offences, including financing, illegal arms possession and attacks on critical infrastructure such as pipelines and power installations, under the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act. Kebbi State, like much of the North-West, has grappled with banditry and insecurity that authorities have at times linked to broader terrorism networks, making convictions in the state notable for security agencies seeking to show progress in prosecuting suspects beyond the North-East's Boko Haram-dominated cases.
The involvement of a Chinese national among those convicted adds an unusual dimension, as most terrorism-related prosecutions in Nigeria involve local suspects. Reports differ slightly on the exact number of Nigerians convicted alongside him, with one account citing 18 others and another citing 19, though both agree on the core offences of terrorism, illegal firearms possession, and infrastructure vandalism. Details such as the specific sentences handed down, the nature of the alleged terrorism link, and how the Chinese national came to be implicated have not been fully clarified across the reports.