The members of the proscribed Boko Haram and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) led by Nnamdi Kanu risk maximum sentencing or life imprisonment, the law Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act recently signed into law has said.
The law which was signed by President Muhammadu Buhari will most likely be used to curb the activities of both groups that have been proscribed by the court of law in the country.
The newly signed Terrorism Act makes provision for life sentencing for members of the IPOB or Boko Haram.
The Nation reports that the law, however, provides a defence for members of the groups which will enable them to escape either the minimum or maximum sentence.
According to the newly signed law, any person who is a member of the two groups or professes to be a member of the terrorist organisation or proscribed entity within or outside Nigeria commits an offence.
The law in its provision stated the person who commits a crime liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than twenty years and up to a maximum of life imprisonment.
It read in parts:
“It shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (1) of this section that the entity, in respect of which the charge is brought, was not a terrorist group or a proscribed entity at the time that person became a member or began to profess membership of that group or entity; and the person has not taken part in the activities of that group or entity after it became a terrorist group or proscribed entity.
“A person, who conspires with another to commit an offence under this Part in Nigeria, or to commit an act of terrorism in any place outside Nigeria, being an act, which if done in Nigeria would have constituted an offence, is deemed to have conspired to do that act in Nigeria, and is liable on conviction to the same punishment as provided under this Bill for the offence to which the conspiracy relates.”
It also added that an individual who knowingly, directly or indirectly aids and abets; induces, instigates, instructs; or even counsels or procures another person by any means whatsoever to commit an act of terrorism, commits an offence.
Members of the Indigenous People of Biafra had earlier been warned against inciting comments and actions in the southeast.
The warning was given to the IPOB members and their leadership by the governor of Ebonyi state David Umahi.
Umahi described the agitations of the group as nonsense and said Ebonyi state would not be part of any Biafran nation.
Meanwhile, four gunmen were killed on Wednesday, May 4 by soldiers attached to the 144 Battalion of the 14 Brigade of the Nigerian Army in the commercial city of Aba in Abia state.
According to the report, the incident happened at about 2 pm yesterday at the Uratta, Aba area of the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway.
The gunmen, wearing black attires, suddenly marched through popular streets and markets forcing traders and residents to comply with a two-day sit-at-home order slated for Thursday, May 5, and Friday, May 6.
LEGIT.NG