Members of proscribed groups such as Boko Haram and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) risk life inprisonment.
This is contained in the Terrorism (prevention and prohibition) Act signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The law has, however, created a defence for such members, which will enable them to escape either the minimum or maximum sentence.
The law states: “A person, who is a member or professes to be a member of a terrorist group or a proscribed entity, in or outside Nigeria, commits an offence, and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than twenty years and up to a maximum of life imprisonment.”
It also states that “it shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under subsection (1) of this section that the entity, in respect of which the charge is brought, was not a terrorist group or a proscribed entity at the time that person became a member or began to profess membership of that group or entity; and the person has not taken part in the activities of that group or entity after it became a terrorist group or proscribed entity.
“A person, who conspires with another to commit an offence under this Part in Nigeria, or to commit an act of terrorism in any place outside Nigeria, being an act, which if done in Nigeria would have constituted an offence, is deemed to have conspired to do that act in Nigeria, and is liable on conviction to the same punishment as provided under this Bill for the offence to which the conspiracy relates.
“A person who knowingly, directly or indirectly aids and abets; induces, instigates, instructs; or counsels or procures another person by any means whatsoever to commit an act of terrorism, commits an offence.
“A person who commits an offence under subsection (2) of this section is liable on conviction, where the offence is committed, to the same punishment as Provided under this act for the offence to which the offence relates; and where the offence is not committed, to imprisonment for a term of not less than five years and not more than that provided for the full offence under this act.”
