Catholic Church Bombing in Madalla Niger State: Court sentences ‘Kabiru Sokoto’ to life imprisonment

The mastermind of the 2011 Christmas Day bombing of St Theresa Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger State, Kabiru Umar, was yesterday sentenced to life imprisonment for the mass killing.

Tragedy struck on the fateful day as Boko Haram members rammed a car packed with explosives into the gates of the church on December 25, 2011.

About 44 worshippers died in the bombing.

The Federal High Court, Abuja similarly convicted the man also known as Kabiru Sokoto for complicity in plots to bomb the Police Headquarters, Sokoto and some other strategic public institutions in the state.

He got life imprisonment for the first count and 10 years for the second. He was arraigned on a two-count charge on 19 April this year by the Federal Government.

Umar, a 38-year old father of two and an Islamic scholar, was charged with belonging to an illegal organisation and facilitating the commission of terrorism act by aiding “his boys” in the plan to bomb the Police Headquarters, Sokoto State and other public buildings, an offence punishable under Section 15(2) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Act.

In count two, he was charged with failure to inform security agencies, “within reasonable and practicable time,” of the plan to bomb the Madalla Catholic Church, having had prior knowledge of the plan, an offence punishable under Section 7(1) of the Terrorism Prevention Act (TPA) 2011.

In convicting Umar, Justice Ademola Adeniyi upheld the confessional statement which Umar made to his interrogators in which he admitted knowledge of the crimes.

The confessional statement, the court said, was supported by the statement of one of Umar’s boys, who was arrested before him and the evidence by a security operative, who investigated the case.

Justice Adeniyi held that although the accused person, in his testimony, attempted to deny his earlier confessional statement, the statement by one of his boys, which contained information that aided security agents to arrest Umar, showed that the statement was credible.

He described Umar as a pathological liar, who had not been a witness of truth in the case.

The judge noted that Umar, who claimed not to understand English Language, which prompted the court to procure an interpreter, admitted in the course of trial to have been trained as a laboratory technician and passed four papers in the School Certificate Examination at credit level, having written the examinations in English.

Justice Adeniyi, who noted that Umar was arrested in the Borno State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja, urged the police to fully investigate that aspect of the case to ascertain whether the Boko Haram sect to whom Umar belongs could be enjoying the support of some influential personalities.

Before sentencing him, the judge noted that Umar did not show remorse throughout the trial.

He said:”The character of the accused person is that of a person who seems not to have respect for the truth. He showed no remorse. He lied that he cannot speak English even when that is not true.

“The accused is hereby sentenced to life imprisonment in relation to the first count. In respect of the second count, the accused person is sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. Both sentences are to run consecutively,” the judge held.

Shortly after his arrest in 2012, Umar escaped from his police guards in Kogi State but was arrested later in Taraba State.