Business
EXCLUSIVE: Boko Haram convict bagged degree during life sentence for church bombing
Kabiru Umar, also known as Kabiru Sokoto, who was convicted over the 2011 Christmas Day bombing linked to Boko Haram, has earned a Biology degree while serving his prison sentence, his lawyers said in one of the documents shared with PREMIUM TIMES.
In a press statement announcing Mr Sokoto’s appeal against his 2013 conviction, his legal team said he remained committed to “personal growth and rehabilitation” during incarceration, noting that he successfully obtained a Biology degree from the National Open University of Nigeria.
The statement, dated 14 May and signed by Lagos-based law firm Don Akaegbu & Company, described the achievement as evidence of Mr Sokoto’s “continued effort toward self-improvement despite the circumstances.”
Kabiru Sokoto was convicted by the Federal High Court in Abuja on 20 December 2013.
However, his lawyers argued that the charges against him did not specifically accuse him of carrying out or masterminding the bombing of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church in Madalla, Niger State, which killed about 35 worshippers and injured several others on Christmas Day in 2011.
According to the lawyers, the relevant charge alleged that Mr Sokoto had prior information about the attack and failed to disclose it to security agencies. They said the distinction between direct participation and alleged prior knowledge forms a key issue in the appeal now before the Court of Appeal.
The appeal, filed after what the lawyers described as delays caused by circumstances beyond Mr Sokoto’s control, challenges the admissibility and credibility of the evidence used to secure his conviction. Among these challenges, they said, include deaths of his two previous lawyers, repeated custodial transfers and his family’s severe “financial constraints.”
The legal team also questioned whether the trial court properly evaluated the defence presented during the proceedings.
The lawyers urged the public to allow the judicial process to run its course, insisting that criminal responsibility should be determined strictly on the basis of evidence presented in court rather than public perception.
READ ALSO: Boko Haram convict Kabiru Sokoto appeals 2013 life sentence for Catholic church bombing near Abuja
Kabiru Sokoto was initially arrested on 14 January 2012 at the Borno State Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja, alongside a serving military officer. He was then taken to Abaji (also in Abuja) by police officers investigating the case to search a house believed to be owned by him.
He escaped from police custody, leading to the suspension and house arrest of Zakari Biu, then-head of the Zone 7 Police Command in Abuja, overseeing Boko Haram investigations at the Criminal Investigation Department. Before the incident, Mr Biu supervised the team that lost Mr Sokoto and was detained at an undisclosed location, alongside other junior police officers involved in the case.
The escape also prompted then-President Goodluck Jonathan to issue a 24-hour ultimatum to the then-Inspector General of Police (IGP) Hafiz Ringim, to produce the Boko Haram suspect. Mr Ringim failed to do so and was later retired.
The State Security Services (SSS) said Kabiru Sokoto was re-arrested in February 2012, following what it described as a gunfight between its operatives and members of his gang in Taraba Satet.
He was subsequently sentenced by the Federal High Court in Abuja on 20 December 2013. The suspected terror kingpin was sentenced on two terrorism charges, including one punishable with life imprisonment under Section 15(2) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act 2004. The second charge attracted 10 years’ imprisonment under Section 7(1) under Terrorism Act, 2011.
Dangote Refinery has completed the endorsement of the offer documents for its initial public offering, putting it on course to launch the $1.6 billion public equity sale, regarded as Africa’s largest ever, next week.
Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man and owner of the 700,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) plant, led the sign-off ceremony in Lagos on Monday in the presence of advisers and other parties to the pan-African offering, which aspires to source about N2.2 trillion from investors.
The minimum subscription of the offer is 10 ordinary shares, translating to N5,250, Mr Dangote told the event.
Lagos-based Vetiva Advisory Services Limited is coordinating the capital raise.
The ceremony follows a key approval by the capital market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), last week, with 4.1 billion shares up for subscription at N525 ($0.40) per unit.
The maiden share offer values the refinery at nearly $50 billion, and plans to plough the proceeds into doubling the current capacity of the facility, which lies on a 6,180-acre expanse on the outskirts of Lagos, to 1.4 million bpd.
That could lift the market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange by more than one third when the shares are listed on the local bourse later this year.
A cross-border listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the continent’s biggest bourse, is in the works, just as the company is giving thought to quoting the stock in Egypt, Kenya, Ghana and Rwanda.
In July, a private placement heralding the IPO raised $2.5 billion from institutional investors and HNIs, oversubscribed by 270 per cent.
Unmet demand from the private share sale could find its way into the IPO, which, long before its approval was announced, had drawn vast interest across Nigeria, where the SEC was impelled in June to stop all the marketing related to the share sale.
The regulator’s action followed reports that many retail investors, including those with little or no knowledge of how equity investment works, were already opening trading accounts ahead of the IPO.
Nevertheless, investor appetite is growing fast beyond retail level, with Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) which according to Bloomberg on Monday, was said to have opened conversations with the refinery towards buying a stake in it.
The global media outlet, citing interviews with sources, noted that an insider at ADNOC said Dangote Refinery has also received approaches from other big investors.
READ ALSO: AFC leads investment in Dangote Refinery’s $2.5bn private placement
Potential model for aspiring companies
The IPO’s launch on 14 September will ride on the improved liquidity Nigeria expects to attract from foreign portfolio capital, following the country’s restoration to frontier market status by FTSE Russell after a near-three-year downgrade that bogged it down under unclassified market status, consequently deterring international investors.
Likewise, an IPO on this scale could offer a template to similarly big Nigerian companies raring to become public quoted firms and, by so doing, unlock access to financing through the capital market.
State-owned energy company NNPC Limited has been fiddling with the idea of going public and holding an IPO since 2021 after transitioning into gaining limited liability status, reviving the talks around the push last November.
The company, whose public image has long been marred by opacity in its operations and lack of transparency in publishing its accounts, may borrow a leaf from Dangote Refinery’s listing.
In June, the refinery, which commenced production in January 2024, toppled the US to become the biggest external supplier of jet fuel to Europe, maintaining the feat in July.
Discover more from Premium Times Nigeria
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
-
News3 days agoWOWICCN Convention: CCN President Urges Women to Rise Above Nigeria’s Challenges
-
News2 days ago
China Approves New Brain-Tech Devices in Growing Race With Elon Musk’s Neuralink
-
News2 days ago
Peter Obi dropped money in Ekiti – Lere Olayinka dismisses ‘I don’t give shishi’ claims
-
News3 days ago
I will recall 15,000 sacked Abia workers – PDP governorship candidate, Anosike
