A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced a woman identified as Halima Haliru Umar to 20 years imprisonment over the unlawful possession of 302 rounds of AK-47 live ammunition and attempting to aid terrorist activities.
The judgment was delivered on Friday by Justice Hauwa Yilwa after the defendant pleaded guilty to two out of a four-count charge instituted against her by the Department of State Services (DSS).
Halima, who was apprehended in Plateau State, admitted before the court that she attempted to transport the ammunition in support of terrorism and also unlawfully possessed the ammunition.
The court ruled that the guilty plea entered by the defendant during her arraignment on March 11 amounted to an acceptance of the prosecution’s evidence and facts without dispute.
“The defendant, having admitted the facts of the offence as presented by the prosecution, the court is satisfied. She is accordingly convicted on counts three and four,” Justice Yilwa ruled.
Following the conviction, defence counsel, Hamza Dantani, appealed to the court for mercy, arguing that the defendant was a first-time offender who cooperated with the trial and showed remorse.
Counsel further told the court that Halima is a nursing mother with a one-year-old child who was arrested alongside her, urging the judge to exercise leniency in sentencing.
Despite the plea, the court handed the convict 20 years imprisonment on count three, which bordered on terrorism support, and an additional one-year jail term on count four relating to illegal possession of ammunition.
The matter was subsequently adjourned till July 9 for continuation of trial on the remaining two counts, to which the defendant pleaded not guilty in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CR/450/2025.
The two charges admitted by the defendant read:
*That you, Halima Haliru Umar of Unguwan Boka, Faskari LGA, Katsina State, adult, female, sometime on 7th July, 2025, at Barkin Ladi LGA and Jos North LGA of Plateau State, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, did attempt to render support for the commission of acts of terrorism by providing material assistance and transportation of three hundred and two (302) rounds of AK-47 rifle live ammunition, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 28 (1) of Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and punishable under Section 13 (1) of Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
*That you, Halima Haliru Umar of Unguwan Boka, Faskari LGA, Katsina State, adult, female, sometime on 7th July, 2025, at Jos North LGA of Plateau State, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, did have in your possession three hundred and Two (302) rounds of AK-47 rifle live ammunition, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8(1) of Firearms Act 2004 and punishable under Section 27 (1) of the same Act.
According to the prosecution, the defendant was arrested on July 7, 2025, in Plateau State while transporting 302 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition.
A DSS operative, Fahad Tahir, while presenting the facts before the court, disclosed that Halima was transferred to the DSS headquarters in Abuja on August 11, 2025, together with exhibits recovered from her, including the ammunition, investigation reports, confessional statements and the sum of N57,100.
Tahir informed the court that investigations showed that a man identified as “Sani” allegedly directed the defendant to travel to Zaria in Kaduna State before proceeding to Jos, Plateau State, where she allegedly collected a waste bag containing the ammunition from another individual identified as “Alhaji.”
The witness added: “My director instructed me and my team to carry out further investigation.
“We received the defendant with the following items: 302 live rounds of ammunition, her voluntary confessional statement, written in Hausa and English; the statement of the arresting officer, the compact disc containing the audio visual recording of her interview session, investigation report from the Plateau State Command and the sum of N57,100.
“After receiving the defendant and the items mentioned, we proceeded to conduct further investigation into the case by examining the items earlier mentioned and also interviewed the defendant, which was audio/visually recorded and in the presence of an official of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria.
“In the course of the interview, she narrated how, on the 6th of July 2025 one Sani instructed her to go to Zaria in Kaduna State to help him collect a message from someone. She said Sani gave her the sum of N50,000 for her travel expenses.
“She stated that, upon her arrival in Zaria, Sani further instructed her to proceed to Jos in Plateau State. On getting to Jos, Sani directed her to one Alhaji, who later handed over a waste bag containing 302 live ammunition.
“She stated that on her way back to Jos, she was arrested while being in possession of the 302 rounds of live ammunition.
“She volunteered her statement in Hausa language and was interpreted by my colleague into the English language, since she is an illiterate in the English language.
“At the conclusion of our investigation, we wrote our investigation report and submitted it to the Director,” the witness said.
