Court slams ten years jail term on two over illegal possession of firearms

Two persons have been sentenced to ten years imprisonment in Taraba State for illegal possession of firearms.

The sentence which came from the chief judge of the state, Joel Agya, on Tuesday, was without an option of fine.

The convicts, Usman Tafi Yau and William Duaknaan were tried on three-count charges of criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, and illegal possession of firearms.

In his judgement, Agya, told the prosecuting counsel, Madina Kabir, that she failed to prove in the case brought before the court that the defendants actually conspired with others currently at large to abduct one Mohammed Abba at Chediya Village in Wukari Local Government Area on March 29, 2020.

He noted that if the prosecuting counsel had done due diligence on the matter, the defendants would have been sentenced to death based on the state’s anti-kidnapping law.

While the judge cleared the defendants of the charges of criminal conspiracy and kidnapping, the reverse was the case on their illegal possession of firearms.

According to him, the convicts were found guilty of illegal possession of firearms based on their confessional statements, which were corroborated by the exhibits presented and the oral evidence of witnesses brought before the court.

Counsel to the first and second defendants, Ibrahim Bawa and Peter Ibeh, respectively, pleaded with the presiding judge to temper justice with mercy in his ruling.

The defendants, as gathered by DAILY POST, were arrested at Chediya Village, where they had gone to buy food for themselves and their kidnap victim by the vigilante group.

“Following the provision of Section 3, sub-section 1 of the Robbery and Firearms (special provision) Acts 2004, I hereby sentence the convicts to 10 years imprisonment without an option of fine, and the sentence will run from 2020,” Agya ruled.