Bandits’ Courier: Woman bags a 20-year jail term for possessing 302 Rounds of live ammunition

A housewife, Haliru Halima Umar, was sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to possessing 302 rounds of live ammunition for AK‑47 rifles, a charge brought against her by the Department of State Service (DSS).

Justice Hauwa Joseph Yilwa of the Federal High Court delivered the verdict in Abuja on Friday.

Although the defendant expressed remorse and requested leniency, Justice Yilwa warned that banditry has become a “cancer threatening the lives of citizens” and must not be treated with “kid gloves.”

During the arraignment, Halima admitted that she had acted as a courier, supplying ammunition to bandits in Plateau State.

At the proceedings, a DSS operative and the first prosecution witness, Fahad Tahir, recounted that the housewife was apprehended on 6 July 2025 by DSS agents while carrying 302 rounds of AK‑47 live ammunition and N57,100 in cash. She was on her way to a group of bandits in Plateau State.

Witness Tahir said that at the DSS Plateau Command office, the accused made a statement in Hausa admitting that Alhaji Sani had sent her to Zaria in Kaduna State to procure the ammunition from another individual.

On 11 August 2025, the accused was transported from Plateau State to Abuja, the DSS national headquarters, where a second interview was conducted.

In the presence of a lawyer from the Legal Aid Council, the accused again admitted in Hausa that she had been arrested with the ammunition and the cash.

Led in evidence‑in‑chief by DSS counsel Dr Callistus Samson Ezeh, the witness presented the 302 rounds of live ammunition, the N57,100 cash, and the accused’s statements, which were admitted as exhibits after no objection was raised by Hamza Dantani, the defendant’s lawyer.

In open court, the accused was shown the live ammunition and the cash and confessed that she had been arrested with them.

The charges read:

COUNT ONE: “That you, Halima Haliru Umar of Unguwan Boka, Faskari LGA, Katsina State, adult female, sometime in July 2025, at Faskari LGA, Katsina State and Barkin Ladi LGA, Plateau State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did knowingly conceal information about one Alhaji Sani and one Alhaji (fnu), suspected gun‑runners, bandits and kidnappers, knowing the information to be of material assistance in apprehending and preventing the commissioning of acts of terrorism, but failed to disclose the information to any law enforcement or security officer, and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 16(1) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

COUNT TWO: “That you, Halima Haliru Umar of Unguwan Boka, Faskari LGA, Katsina State, adult female, sometime on 6 and 7 July 2025, at Faskari LGA, Katsina State and Barkin Ladi LGA, Plateau State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did knowingly render support for the commission of acts of terrorism by providing material assistance and transportation of three hundred and two (302) rounds of AK‑47 rifle live ammunition, and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 13(1) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

COUNT THREE: “That you, Halima Haliru Umar of Unguwan Boka, Faskari LGA, Katsina State, adult female, sometime on 7 July 2025, at Barkin Ladi LGA and Jos North LGA of Plateau State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did attempt to render support for the commission of acts of terrorism by providing material assistance and transportation of three hundred and two (302) rounds of AK‑47 rifle live ammunition, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 28(1) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022 and punishable under Section 13(1) of the same Act.

COUNT FOUR: “That you, Halima Haliru Umar of Unguwan Boka, Faskari LGA, Katsina State, adult female, sometime on 7 July 2025, at Jos North LGA of Plateau State, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did have in your possession three hundred and two (302) rounds of AK‑47 rifle live ammunition, and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 8(1) of the Firearms Act 2004 and punishable under Section 27(1) of the same Act.”