The Boko Haram member, Umar Mustapha sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in the bombing of media houses in Kaduna State, has appealed his conviction.
Reports by The Nation:
In a notice of appeal filed before the Court of Appeal, Abuja, by his lawyer, Nureni Sulyman, the convict is seeking, among others, to void his conviction.
In the notice of appeal on February 6 but filed on February 11, Umar raised six grounds of appeal and promised to add more.
Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, in a November 15 judgment, found Umar guilty in the April 26, 2012, bombing of SOJ Plaza, a building on Sabon Gari Road, Kaduna, housing the offices of three newspapers – ThisDay, The Sun and The Moment.
He allegedly drove a white Honda Academy car with registration number AL 306 MKA, laden with improvised explosives devices (IEDs), into the premises.
The convict later reportedly exploded the devices, killing three persons and injuring several others.
The judge found him guilty of the charges against him and sentenced him to life imprisonment with hard labour.
But Umar, among others, argued that the judge erred when he held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
He argued that evidence by the prosecution witnesses were contradictory and unreliable.
The terror convict argued that the judge was wrong to have convicted him on the strength of evidence by non-existing witnesses, who were not only masked but also failed to disclose their identities.
He argued that the judge also erred by convicting him because he was denied fair trial conducted in secret and under the watch of “armed and fierce looking men of the Nigeria Police Force.”
Umar said his witnesses could not access the court because the trial was in secret and their movement allegedly restricted by the police and the State Security Service (SSS).
He accused the judge of not subjecting his testimony to holistic evaluation and thereby caused a miscarriage of justice to him.
Umar argued that the judge failed to take into account the fact that he had been in custody before the judgment, when he sentenced him to life imprisonment with hard labour.
He prayed the appellate court to set aside the judgment, discharge and acquit him.