A Federal Court of Appeal in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), has convicted no fewer than six Nigerians over alleged funding of Boko Haram.
The appellate court upheld the conviction after they lost an earlier appeal at a lower court.
According to reports, Surajo Abubakar Muhammad and Saleh Yusuf Adamu were sentenced to life imprisonment.
The other accomplices, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan, AbdurRahman Ado Musa, Bashir Ali Yusuf and Muhammad Ibrahim Isa, bagged ten-year jail term each.
As shown by Court documents, between 2015 and 2016, the convicts were involved in cash transfers of around $782,000.00 to Boko Haram.
This act was contrary to Article 29, Clause 3 of United Arab Emirates’ Federal Anti-Terrorism Law No 7 of 2017.
National Security Bureau has said that investigation of these Nigerians “confirmed their involvement and membership of the Boko Haram”.
They were nabbed between April 16 and 17, 2017, and their homes were searched according to the search warrant that was issued by the National Security Prosecution office on April 16, 2017.
Abubakar and Adamu were charged for joining Boko Haram voluntarily.
This contravenes Article 22/2 of UAE’s Federal Anti-Terrorism Law No 7 of 2017 and it is punishable by death or life in prison.
Alhassan, Musa, Yusuf and Isa were charged with assisting Boko Haram knowingly.
The crime, under Article 31, Clause 1 of the same law, is punishable by life in prison or a minimum of five-year jail term.
Most of the transactions were made possible by two undercover Boko Haram agents that are based in Nigeria. The agents are Alhaji Sa’idu and Alhaji Ashiru who was described as “a Nigerian government official”.
He also reportedly channelled misappropriated public funds to terrorists.
Sa’idu’s mode of operation is using unknown Arabians on a visit to Dubai from Turkey to take the US Dollars to one of the convicts, who in turn remit Naira equivalent to the agent.
Meanwhile, the families of the convicts reveal they were “framed up” and insisted that their bureau de change business in the United Arab Emirates was legal.
