Malam Mele Modu, a father of eight from Abara village in Bara Local Government Area of Borno State, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for failing to report Boko Haram activities to security agencies.

The Federal High Court in Abuja handed down the sentence on Friday after Modu admitted guilt to a charge of withholding information that could have helped security agencies arrest and prosecute members of the terrorist group.

Modu was among 47 suspected terrorists prosecuted by the Federal Government before Justice Binta Nyako. He faced a four-count charge involving alleged Boko Haram membership, providing support to the group by harvesting beans for its members and concealing information about its activities.

He denied three of the four charges but pleaded guilty to failing to provide information that could have helped curb the group’s activities in his community.

During proceedings, Modu told the court that he had withheld the information because he feared the terrorists would kill him if he exposed them.

However, the court rejected his defence, citing Section 8(1)(b) of the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act, 2013, which criminalises the withholding of information about terrorist activities.

His lawyer, Dauda Hassan, unsuccessfully argued that his client’s fear of retaliation by the terrorists should be considered in his defence.

Justice Nyako subsequently convicted Modu of violating the terrorism law and sentenced him to 10 years in prison.

The court ordered that the sentence take effect from 2016, when operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) arrested him.