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Court jails Awal Bello 10 years for aiding Boko Haram through N750,000 currency swap.
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Naira redesign crisis linked as offence occurred during Naira Redesign Policy cash shortage.
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Additional 10-year term for paying N20,000 levy to terrorists; sentences to run concurrently.
The Federal High Court has sentenced Awal Bello to 10 years imprisonment for facilitating the exchange of N750,000 for Boko Haram members during the 2023 cash crunch.
The offence was linked to the Naira Redesign Policy introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria, which saw Nigerians struggle to access newly issued notes amid widespread scarcity.
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Bello was found to have assisted members of the terrorist group in swapping old naira notes for new ones at the height of the crisis.
READ ALSO:Court Jails Five Terrorists as FG Starts Trial of 500 Suspects
Delivering judgment, Justice Binta Nyako also sentenced him to another 10 years for paying N20,000 levy to Boko Haram, in violation of the Terrorism Prevention Act, 2013.
The court ruled that both sentences would run concurrently after Bello pleaded guilty to the two-count charge filed by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation.
According to the charges, the convict, a resident of Mantari village in Borno State, provided financial support to Boko Haram and made payments to the group in 2023.
Bello pleaded for leniency, but the court held that the offences warranted custodial punishment under the law.
