Jos Crisis: 15 Suspects Bag 10-year Jail Term, Two Freed

Posted by admin Headlines, Raw Politics Sunday, December 19th, 2010

JUSTICE Ambrose Alagoa of the Federal High Court, Jos has sentenced 15 suspects to 10 years imprisonment for their complicity in the Jos crisis. Two other suspects were, however, discharged and acquitted.

Delivering the judgment at the weekend, Justice Alagoa said the lingering crisis caused Nigeria serious embarrassment among the comity of nations.

“The issue of Jos crisis where several people were killed, maimed and property destroyed is a serious concern. It has caused the entire country grief and embarrassment, even in the international community. It takes the criminally-minded people to perpetrate the act. The long arm of the law must catch up with the perpetrators. Therefore, there is need for a deterrent,” he said.

In the first count charge of criminal conspiracy, the accused were found guilty and sentenced to two years imprisonment without option of fine; while on count two they were sentenced to 12 months.

On count three, where the accused were charged with acts of terrorism in Mangu Local Council of Plateau State, they were found culpable and sentenced accordingly to 10 years imprisonment each under the Firearms Act, which ordinarily recommends life imprisonment of any accused when found guilty.

But the court was moved by the plea for mitigation by their counsel, Mallam Ahmed Garba, who praised the industry and indepth research of the presiding judge. The But, in a separate judgment delivered on the suit between the Federal Republic of Nigeria against Abubakar Ahmed and Zakari Ahmed, who were standing trial on criminal conspiracy and act of terrorism, Alagoa said the prosecution collapsed like a pack of cards because it had failed to link the accused to the weapons purportedly recovered from them.

Discharging and acquitting the two accused persons, the judge held that there was no evidence averred by the prosecution to prove that the two accused persons agreed to commit unlawful acts of causing fears in the people, as they were mere cattlemen, who were arrested in the bush with their cattle.

Justice Alagoa submitted that the fact that there was a crisis in Jos at the time they were arrested was not enough that they were liable. He, therefore, asserted that the prosecution had failed to prove their guilt.

The prosecution had brought to the Police Station a jacket he claimed to belong to the accused where some cartridges were found. The judge held that the jacket must have been planted by the prosecution the accused where not searched at the point judge reduced the life imprisonment to 10 years.

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