The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, the nation’s capital has convicted a total of 386 terrorists put on trial by the Federal Government in the last four days.
The convicted terrorists were sentenced to various jail terms ranging from five years to life imprisonment based on the gravity of the charges brought by the prosecution against them.
The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN who confirmed this on Friday said that a total of 508 defendants were arraigned before ten courts between Tuesday and Friday.
Briefing journalists at the conclusion of the mass trial, Fagbemi said that eight of the defendants were discharged while two were acquitted from the charges against them.
The Minister further explained that a batch of 112 suspects whose cases could not be attended to would be arraigned along with others in the next phase of the mass trial between June 15 and 18, 2026.
He said that the mass trial and the imprisonment of the 386 terrorists will serve as a signal to criminals that Nigeria has no space for heinous crimes like terrorism.
The minister praised the ten judges of the Federal High Court for sacrificing their Easter holiday to sit as special courts and in response to a clarion call of the Federal Government to them.
Fagbemi also said international organisations, especially the Amnesty International, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and other civil societies witnessed the proceedings to ensure that due process of law and transparency took the lead in the trial of the terrorists. He equally thanked the media for the coverage of the proceedings.
