Christmas Day Bombing mastermind, Kabiru Sokoto sentence to life imprisonment

Mastermind of the Christmas day bomb blast that killed about 44 persons and wounded 75 others at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, Madalla, Niger State, in 2011, Kabiru Umar, alias Kabiru Sokoto, was yesterday, sentenced to life imprisonment by a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.

Delivering his judgement, the presiding judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, said he was satisfied that the Federal Government, successfully established the culpability of the convict beyond every reasonable doubt, noting that Umar had in two earlier separate confessional statements, admitted that he had prior knowledge of the attack.

Besides, the court stressed that the accused person, throughout the trial, never showed any remorse for his actions, describing him as “a pathological liar with no regards for the truth.”

The court observed that the convict had in a statement he voluntarily made on January 14, 2012, shortly after he was arrested, confessed that he was a key member of the Boko Haram terrorist group.

Justice Adeniyi read a portion of the said statement where the convict stated thus, “here in Abaji, nobody knows that I am a Boko Haram member, much so, I have about 500 children that I teach Quran”, adding that ‘Sokoto’, on page four of his statement, confessed that under his supervision, “the Madalla church bombing was carried out by one Bashir Mohammed, Muhktar Kafanchan and others who I cannot remember their names now.”