The Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced two women linked to notorious terrorist kingpin, Kachallah Ibrahim Battujo, to a combined 40 years imprisonment for terrorism-related offences.<\/p>\n
The convicts, Safiya Salihu and Halima Abdullahi – mother and sister of the slain terrorist leader – were prosecuted following investigations by the Department of State Services (DSS). Battujo was killed by Nigerian security forces on June 10, 2026, during a military operation in a forest near Iluke in Kabba\/Bunu Local Government Area of Kogi State.<\/p>\n
Delivering judgment on Friday, Justice Hauwa Joseph Yilwa convicted the women after they pleaded guilty to selected counts in a five-count charge filed by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation.<\/p>\n
The court found both defendants guilty of aiding and abetting the activities of Battujo by relaying information to him through telephone communications. The offence, contained in Count 2 of the charge, violates Section 26 of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.<\/p>\n
In addition, Safiya Salihu admitted concealing information relating to her son’s terrorist activities, while Halima Abdullahi pleaded guilty to withholding information about her brother’s possession of illegal firearms after visiting his forest hideout.<\/p>\n
The prosecution, led by Director of Public Prosecutions, Oyedepo Rotimi, SAN, requested the court to strike out Counts 1 and 3, which alleged that the women received \u20a6490,300 in terrorism proceeds and undertook a Hajj pilgrimage sponsored with funds linked to terrorism. The court granted the request and discharged them on those counts.<\/p>\n
According to court documents, investigators established that both women maintained communication with Battujo and provided information that aided his operations while he was being sought by security agencies.<\/p>\n
For the offences to which they pleaded guilty, Justice Yilwa imposed a 20-year prison sentence on each applicable count. However, the court ordered that the sentences run concurrently, meaning both women will serve a maximum of 20 years each rather than consecutive terms. The judge further directed that they undergo rehabilitation upon completion of their prison terms.<\/p>\n
The ruling marks another significant prosecution under Nigeria’s Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, reinforcing efforts by security agencies and the justice system to hold accountable individuals who provide support, assistance, or concealment for terrorist activities.<\/p>\n
Key Charges<\/strong> Count 4: Concealing information regarding Battujo’s possession of firearms despite having knowledge that could assist law enforcement in his arrest.<\/p>\n Count 5: Concealing intelligence relating to the activities and whereabouts of a suspected terrorist kingpin, thereby obstructing efforts to secure his apprehension.<\/p>\n Although allegations relating to the receipt of terrorism proceeds and sponsorship for pilgrimage were initially included in the charge sheet, those counts were ultimately struck out at the request of the prosecution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced two women linked to notorious terrorist kingpin, Kachallah Ibrahim Battujo, to a combined 40 years imprisonment for terrorism-related offences. The convicts, Safiya Salihu and Halima Abdullahi – mother and sister of the slain terrorist leader – were prosecuted following investigations by the Department of State Services (DSS). […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":99375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5807,7],"tags":[8447,1219,6441,8344],"class_list":["post-99374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-crime-and-violence","category-news","tag-battujo","tag-mother","tag-sister","tag-yilwa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=99374"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99376,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99374\/revisions\/99376"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/99375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=99374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=99374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=99374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nCount 2: Aiding and abetting a known terrorist kingpin by passing information through telephone conversations.<\/p>\n