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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
A High Court of Kaduna State has convicted and sentenced a woman, Aisha Abubakar, to five years’ imprisonment for unlawful possession of 500 rounds of live AK-47 ammunition, which the prosecution said were meant for bandits in Katsina State.
Justice John Ambi, in a judgement delivered on 15 October 2026, held that the prosecution proved the offence of unlawful possession of weapon, contrary to Section 393 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017.
The certified true copy of the judgement, signed by the judge on 19 October, was made available to journalists in Abuja on Monday.
Justice Ambi held that, regardless of the convict’s plea for mercy, the court could not ignore the devastating effect of insecurity in the country. He expressed concern over the harm the ammunition would have inflicted on the lives of Nigerians had the defendant not been apprehended.
The judge said he took into account the defendant’s plea in allocutus and the submissions of both counsel before passing sentence.
“I hereby sentence the defendant to five years’ imprisonment for the offence of unlawful possession of weapon contrary to Section 393 of the Kaduna State Penal Code Law, 2017,” he ruled.
He ordered that the sentence run from the date of her detention under the remand order, declaring that “the time already spent in detention pursuant to the remand order shall be counted in the computation of her sentence.”
In an amended charge marked KDH/KAD/45C/2025, filed on 4 May 2026, the Kaduna State Government alleged that Aisha was found on or about 23 June 2024 in possession of 500 rounds of live AK-47 ammunition without licence or lawful authority. She was arraigned on 6 May 2026 and pleaded not guilty.
Prosecuting under the fiat of the Kaduna State Attorney-General, Emmanuel Ekpenyong called one witness, ASP Abdullahi Ibrahim of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID).
Testifying as PW1, Ibrahim tendered the 500 rounds of ammunition, the brown piece of clothing in which they were wrapped, the polythene bag in which they were kept, and the defendant’s extra-judicial statement dated 23 June 2024.
He was cross-examined by the defence counsel.
In his final written address dated 8 June 2026, Ekpenyong raised four issues for determination.
These included whether the absence of Inspector Abu Sarki at the trial affected the admissibility of the extra-judicial statement (Exhibit P4), and whether the defendant’s protest against its recording, after she failed to object when it was tendered and admitted, affected the weight to be attached to it.
He also asked whether the evidence established the offence beyond reasonable doubt, and whether the court could convict on the unchallenged and uncontroverted evidence of the prosecution.
Aisha testified as the sole defence witness (DW1) and denied knowledge of the exhibits. She said that while on a condolence visit to Katsina State, the vehicle in which she was travelling was stopped by police officers, who searched and allegedly beat passengers and removed their luggage.
She claimed the police said they found ammunition in her bag and wanted to photograph her. When she refused, she alleged, the officers slapped her, tied her hands and beat her. She said she told them the ammunition was not hers, after which she was locked in a room and brought to Kaduna the following day.
Under cross-examination, she said she was born in Dan-Musa Local Government Area and was travelling there when she was arrested.
Confronted with a portion of Exhibit P4 and asked how the information in it was obtained if she did not provide it, she said she gave it after being beaten.
She admitted she had no photograph showing she was beaten, and that although she was not the only woman in the vehicle, she was the only one arrested.
Her counsel, Victor Fredrick, in a final written address dated 15 May 2026, raised a single issue: whether the totality of the prosecution’s evidence proved its case beyond reasonable doubt to warrant conviction.
Asked whether she had anything to say before sentence, the convict pleaded: “I am begging the court to forgive me and be lenient on me when passing its sentence.”
She added that she has children and is their only parent.
Fredrick urged the court to temper justice with mercy, noting that she had spent over two years in custody.
Ekpenyong, however, reminded the court of the prevalence of the offence and the level of insecurity in the state and across the country, and asked for a just sentence that would deter others.
Aisha, then reported to be 25 years old, was arrested by the Kaduna State Police Command along the Zaria-Kaduna highway on 23 June 2024, while on her way to Katsina State.
Paraded with other suspects at the command headquarters on 27 June 2024, she was reported to have told journalists that she was paid N50,000 per trip to deliver ammunition to bandits in Katsina State.
