A Borno State high court sitting in Maiduguri has sentenced 18 persons, including students of the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) and Ramat Polytechnic, to six years imprisonment for belonging to an unlawful society and conspiracy.
The convicts were arrested by the police on September 21, 2019 at a hotel in Maiduguri during the initiation ceremony of new members into the Neo Black Movement (NBM), otherwise called the Black Axe.
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While delivering the judgment, Justice Umar Fadawu said the convicts had, in their confessional statements, admitted to being members of the unlawful society.
The judge said the prison terms shall run concurrently from Wednesday, 20 October 2021.
Counsel to the convicts, Barrister Ahmed Hamman, had earlier said that the convicts had exhibited remorse and urged the court to temper justice with mercy.
Responding to the judgment, the Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Kaka Shehu Lawan, said the state has been facing the challenges of insurgency and authorities could not allow cultism to thrive.
