A FEDERAL High Court sitting in Katsina has sentenced a woman, Hauwa’u Mukhtar, to death by hanging after finding her guilty of terrorism-related offences.
News Point Nigeria reports that Mukhtar was convicted on a two-count charge bordering on conspiracy to commit terrorism as well as aiding and abetting terrorist activities.
The woman was arrested by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) on September 16, 2023, at Jibia Motor Park in Katsina State while she was allegedly attempting to deliver ammunition to a suspected bandit leader.
Following her arrest, the DSS subsequently arraigned her before the court on charges linked to terrorism and support for terrorist activities.
Delivering judgment, Justice A.B. Bawale held that the prosecution successfully established its case beyond reasonable doubt through evidence, exhibits and witness testimonies presented during the course of the trial.
According to the court, the totality of the evidence tendered by the prosecution sufficiently proved the allegations against the defendant and established her culpability on both counts.
Justice Bawale thereafter found Mukhtar guilty of conspiracy to commit terrorism and aiding and abetting terrorist activities.
Consequently, the court sentenced her to death by hanging in accordance with the provisions of the Katsina State Penal Code Law, 2021.
The judgment marks one of the latest convictions secured in terrorism-related prosecutions in the country amid ongoing efforts by security agencies and the judiciary to tackle terrorism and banditry.
The development comes barely two weeks after a Federal High Court in Abuja sentenced four men arrested by the DSS to death by hanging for their roles in the June 5, 2022 terror attack on the St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, an attack that claimed the lives of more than 40 worshippers.
