NIGERIA: Two Lebanese men walk free from a Nigerian court after being cleared of unlawful possession of firearms and arms trafficking, but a third is handed a life sentence

Record ID: 236265

  • Title: NIGERIA: Two Lebanese men walk free from a Nigerian court after being cleared of unlawful possession of firearms and arms trafficking, but a third is handed a life sentence
  • Date: 29th November 2013
  • Summary: ABUJA, NIGERIA (NOVEMBER 29, 2013) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF HEZBOLLAH SUSPECTS BEING DRIVEN IN PRISON VANS/GOING INTO THE COURT IN HANDCUFFS AMID HEAVY SECURITY VARIOUS OF LAWYERS SEATED IN COURT VARIOUS OF LEBANESE SUSPECTS SEATED IN COURT LEBANESE MAN PRAYING WITH HIS ROSARY (SOUNDBITE) (English) MUSTAPHA FAWAZ, HEZBOLLAH SUSPECT, SAYING: "We feel great and we want to thank God and the Nigerian judiciary for vindicating us and our lawyers for all the help and support. We also wish to state the following - that we are Nigerians, we have lived in Nigeria for most of our lives, most of our family members brothers, sisters, children, cousins, were born in Nigeria, we have been here for decades, not 10 and 20 or 30 years. We have invested so much in Nigeria because we believe in Nigeria and we will continue to do our investment in Nigeria." VARIOUS OF LEBANESE SUSPECTS DISCUSSING WITH THEIR COUNSEL (SOUNDBITE) (English) MUSTAPHA FAWAZ, HEZBOLLAH SUSPECT, SAYING: "Anybody who invests in a place in billions of naira in a place will not be interested in destroying it and we believe in Nigeria, will continue to believe in Nigeria and we thank God and we thank the Nigerian people for all the support they have rendered to us throughout our lives in Nigeria." VARIOUS OF MUSTAPHA FAWAZ EMBRACING PEOPLE IN THE COURTROOM (SOUNDBITE) (English) AHMED RAJI, DEFENSE COUNSEL, SAYING: "The essence of the judgement is that Hezbollah is not a terrorist organisation under the Nigerian law, neither Hezbollah nor any of its arms. And that my clients are not members of any terrorist be it international or local." VARIOUS OF FEMALE RELATIVES OF THE SUSPECTS SEATED IN COURT (SOUNDBITE) (English) SIMON EGEDE, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC PROSECUTION, SAYING: "When a court finds that a case fails because government has not done certain things under the act I think we should not go further than that to look for who to blame. The important thing is that terrorism is new to the country, the laws are new and we will keep implementing them. It is not our dream to secure conviction in all cases, that is not the duty of the prosecutor. We try to present our case, we learn from each case, and we strive to do better as we bring new cases to court." VARIOUS OF TALAL AHMAD RODA SEATED IN THE DOCK IN COURT VARIOUS OF TALAL AHMAD RODA BEING LED AWAY TO A PRISON VAN OUTSIDE BY SECURITY PERSONNEL (SOUNDBITE) (English) AHMED RAJI, DEFENSE COUNSEL, SAYING: "The third accused was sentenced because, according to the findings of the court, he conspired with the owner of the property in Kano to deal in arms or weapons, which has nothing to do with Abuja, neither Wonderland or Amigo." VARIOUS OF PRISON VANS BEING DRIVEN AWAY VARIOUS EXTERIOR OF THE COURT
  • Embargoed: 14th December 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVADOQRRNKHHTQMR7ZGLB9M22RRT
  • Story Text: A Nigerian court handed a life sentence for illegal arms trafficking and possession on Friday (November 29) to a Lebanese man suspected of having links with Hezbollah, but it freed another two Lebanese suspects in the case.
    Secret service agents arrested Mustapha Fawaz, Abdullah Tahini, Talal Ahmad Roda and Hussain Nurudeen Kossdi between May 16 and May 28.
    They suspected them of being members of the Lebanon-based Shi'ite Muslim organisation, after a raid on a residence linked to Roda in the main northern city of Kano uncovered anti-tank weapons, landmines, heavy artillery, rocket-propelled grenades and automatic rifles.
    Authorities said the weapons were to be used in attacks on American and Israeli targets.
    Kossdi was later freed for lack of evidence.
    Speaking outside the court, Mustapha Fawaz told reporters he felt vindicated.

    "We have lived in Nigeria for most of our lives ... We have invested so much in Nigeria," he said. "Anybody who invests billions of naira (hundreds of thousands of U.S. dollars) in a place will not be interested in destroying it."
    Judge Adeniyi Ademola struck out all terrorism charges against the men on lack of evidence, noting that being a member of Hezbollah was not enough to be so accused.

    "The essence of the judgement is that Hezbollah is not a terrorist organisation under the Nigerian law, neither Hezbollah nor any of its arms. And that my clients are not members of any terrorist be it international or local," said defense counsel Ahmed Raji.
    Judge Ademola gave Roda a mandatory life sentence for unlawful possession and import of firearms, but the others were cleared on lack of evidence of any links to the weapons.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register