DSS Rejects Terror Convicts’ Jail Terms, Vows To Challenge ‘Lenient’ Sentences

The Department of State Services (DSS) has concluded plans to challenge two recent court judgments that sentenced three convicted terror suspects to prison terms, arguing that the punishments do not reflect the severity of their crimes.....KINDLY READ THE FULL STORY HERE▶

Security sources disclosed that the Service would appeal the decisions of the Federal High Court in Kano and a Katsina State High Court, maintaining that the sentences handed down were too lenient given the nature of the offences and the cache of weapons allegedly recovered from the convicts.

The Federal High Court in Kano sentenced Jamilu Ibrahim to 32 years imprisonment and Rayya Haruna to 10 years imprisonment after they were convicted in separate terrorism-related cases.

In a separate ruling, a Katsina State High Court sentenced the 80-year-old village head of Salihawa in Safana Local Government Area, Audu Adamu Tubali, to 10 years in prison over terrorism-related offences.

According to security sources, the DSS believes the penalties fall short of serving as an effective deterrent and has resolved to seek stiffer punishments at the Court of Appeal.

The Service said the three convicts were arrested during separate operations that led to the recovery of significant quantities of arms and ammunition allegedly destined for terrorist and bandit groups.

Investigators alleged that Ibrahim was intercepted while transporting weapons to a suspected bandit leader identified as Karami, who reportedly operates in Katsina State.

According to the prosecution, DSS operatives recovered four rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and 832 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition for AK-47 rifles from him.

The agency maintained that the recovered weapons were intended to strengthen the operational capacity of terrorist and bandit networks.

A security source described the sentences as a “slap on the wrist,” insisting they failed to match the seriousness of the offences.

Speaking with ThisDay, the source argued that courts had imposed far harsher punishments in similar cases.

The source cited the case of Hauwa’u Mukhtar, an alleged female arms courier who was recently sentenced to death by a Federal High Court in Katsina State.

According to the source, Mukhtar was arrested by DSS operatives at Jibia Motor Park while allegedly attempting to transport 438 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition to a suspected bandit leader operating in the Dunburum Forest area of Zamfara State.

The source argued that if the death penalty was considered appropriate in Mukhtar’s case, similar sanctions should be applied in cases involving suspects allegedly found with more sophisticated weapons.

“Where the courts have found it fit to impose the maximum penalty in cases involving the transportation of arms to bandit and terrorist networks, the DSS believes that similar treatment should be meted out to Ibrahim, Haruna and Tubali, especially as the weapons allegedly recovered from them are more lethal than those found on the woman sentenced to death by hanging,” the source said.

“The Service believes in fairness to all and will pursue every available legal option to ensure that the full weight of the law is brought to bear on anyone who violates it, without fear or favour,” the source added.

Another security source said the planned appeals form part of the DSS’s broader strategy to secure tougher judicial outcomes that would serve as a stronger deterrent against arms trafficking and support for terrorist and bandit organisations.