Saturday, October 24, 2026 -The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday, October 22, sentenced Sunday Frank to 40 years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to spying for the late notorious Benue militia leader, Terwase Akwanza, popularly known as Gana.
Justice Hawa Yilwa convicted Frank, who hails from
Katsina-Ala Local Government Area of Benue State, on count 4 of a four-count
charge brought by the federal government under the Terrorism Prevention and
Prohibition Act (TPPA) 2022. The sentence runs from the day of his arrest.
The court also ordered that, on completing his prison term,
the convict undergo a rehabilitation and deradicalisation programme.
The federal government alleged that Frank monitored the
movement of security agents and passed the information to Gana, with his
coverage spanning Benue and Taraba states.
He was also accused of kidnapping one Samuel in 2022 and
holding him hostage until N40,000 was paid for his release.
The offences were alleged to be contrary to sections 21 and
24 of the TPPA 2022. The charge was personally prosecuted by the
Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef
Fagbemi, SAN.
Frank denied counts 1, 2 and 3, which related to the alleged
abduction, but pleaded guilty to count 4, which related to providing
information to the bandit leader. Following the plea, the AGF applied for the
three denied counts to be struck out, and the court granted the request.
The prosecution called a witness who was part of the team
that investigated Frank. Identified only as ” AAA” after the court allowed the
federal government to shield his identity, he reviewed the facts of the case.
He told the court that Frank, who was arrested in 2022,
confessed orally and in writing to being a bandit and an informant to Gana.
According to the witness, Frank admitted that, besides
giving Gana updates on the movement of security agents, he participated in
banditry and in the abduction of two persons.
The defence counsel, Mr Y. Y. Shullai, did not oppose the
prosecution’s application to tender Frank’s statement in evidence. Justice
Yilwa admitted it as Exhibit A. The investigation report filed by the witness’s
team was tendered and admitted as Exhibit B.
Citing the confession and the exhibits, the AGF urged the
court to convict Frank on count 4. He described the offence as very serious,
noting that the law prescribes a minimum of 20 years’ imprisonment and a
maximum of life.
He asked for a sentence of not less than 30 years, warning:
“If it is not nipped in the bud, a whole generation of our security operatives
can be wiped out by people like this providing information about their
movement.”
The AGF also drew the court’s attention to the fact that
count 4 related to section 13 of the TPPA.
Shullai, who is from the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria
(LACoN), said he did not oppose the AGF’s submissions.
Gana reportedly began as part of a militia group defending
Benue communities against attacks by suspected herdsmen. He later became a
notorious militia leader.
He was neutralizsed on 8 September 2020, during a military
operation by the Nigerian Army.
Before his passing, Gana had surrendered and embraced a
second amnesty programme offered by the Benue State government in Katsina-Ala
Local Government Area, in the presence of traditional rulers, clerics and local
government officials.
He was travelling in a government-backed convoy with other
repentant militia members and officials to Makurdi, the state capital, where
then Governor Samuel Ortom was to receive them.
Troops of the 4 Special Forces Command (Operation Ayem
Akpatuma III) intercepted the convoy at a roadblock along the
Gbese–Gboko–Makurdi road.
The Commander of the 4 Special Forces Command, Brigadier
General Maude Ali Gadzama, said the troops acted on strategic intelligence.
According to the military, soldiers engaged Gana’s group in a shootout after
the militia members opened fire or resisted. Gana was killed in the firefight
and about 40 gang members were captured.
Former Governor Ortom, along with local community leaders
and politicians, disputed the military’s account.
They maintained that Gana was surrendering peacefully, and
that soldiers forcibly dragged the unarmed militia leader out of the official
government convoy and extra-judicially killed him.
Frank’s case is part of the ongoing mass trial of detained
terror suspects.
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