WHEN suspected kidnapper Hamisu Bala, popularly known as Wadume, was convicted in 2022, many Nigerians saw his sentencing as only a slap on the wrist and an encouragement of criminality.
Before his conviction, Wadume had been widely known as a kidnap kingpin who operated within the northern region of Nigeria. He was arraigned on multiple charges, including murder, kidnapping, escaping from lawful custody, and unlawfully dealing in prohibited firearms, among others.
The arrest, which led to his conviction, took place in 2019 and was his second in two weeks, as he had escaped a previous arrest with the help of some Nigerian soldiers.
During the escape, the police team conveying him to Abuja for interrogation was attacked by a group of soldiers manning a checkpoint within Taraba state.
Three of the policemen and two civilians were killed in the process. Five other policemen were also left severely injured. Two weeks later, Wadume was rearrested and, in 2020, arraigned before the court on a 16 counts charge, along with 18 others.
By July 2022, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had sentenced him to seven years’ imprisonment, convicting him of only two of the charges brought against him.
While he was found guilty of unlawfully dealing in firearms and escaping from lawful custody, the court ruled that the prosecution could not prove the other charges brought against him, including murder, kidnapping and terrorism.
The seven-year prison sentence was described as inadequate by several Nigerian groups.
Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) faulted the ruling and demanded a fresh prosecution for him and others convicted with him.
“The fresh conviction of Evans, a kidnap kingpin is salutary, but when compared to the Taraba kidnapping kingpin, Wadume, the judgment from the Federal High Court is a mockery of the judiciary and the entire wheel of justice in Nigeria.
“The judiciary is allegedly aiding kidnapping because whilst Evans offences attracted far heavier sanctions which we are not particularly opposed to, Wadume, who was arraigned for exactly the same crime of kidnapping, amongst others, got lighter punishment after the years of secrecy that shrouded his trial,” HURIWA’s National Coordinator Emmanuel Onwubiko had said.
Others questioned the secrecy behind Wadume’s trial and called for all soldiers involved to be brought to book.
Freedom after two years
A little less than two years after his conviction, Wadume regained his freedom and returned to his hometown in Ibbi, Taraba state.
Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) Abubakar confirmed his release to journalists on Monday, saying he had served his full sentence and left custody on Saturday, April 6.
Umar was quoted as saying, “He (Wadume) has served his full term and was released from custody (on) Saturday in Abuja.”
A heroic welcome
As Wadume returned to his hometown in Taraba, a large crowd gathered by the riverside through which he arrived and they welcomed him amid fanfare.
Upon his return, residents of Ibbi were reported to have been in a festive mood, driving him around town, beating drums, and singing his praises.
Wadume also made his way to the residence of the traditional ruler, where he paid homage to the chief and thanked him and other community members for standing by him.
His traditional ruler, Garba Salihu, also warmly welcomed him, saying some of the allegations brought before Wadume were politically motivated.
“We are hoping that he will not go back to criminality. He came to the palace and pledged his loyalty as a changed person. Even repented Boko Haram are allowed to reintegrate into the community, so we have to accept him and take proactive steps to secure our community. He is back as a repented person and remember, he belongs to this community and the name of our community was associated with criminality during that incident.
“As someone who has a lot of followers, we believe that by re-integrating, he will work with security agencies and stakeholders to ensure the peace of the community. Wadume was not a hardened criminal, but someone with dubious character, but the issue of kidnapping was framed against him, and even politics came in, that was why the court could not convict him on some of the charges that were preferred against him,” Salihu said.
Grand reception sparks criticisms
Wadume’s reception at Ibbi has generated controversies among Nigerians. Many saw the development as a weakness of the judiciary and an encouragement of criminal activities by citizens.
Reacting to the incident, a social media user on X, Bigwig Austin, said “I’m not surprised, tomorrow he can even be president of Nigeria and will draw support from length and breadth of Nigeria. We’ve seen this happen before!”
Another user, Farooq, queried, “So the police officers that soldiers killed as a result of trying to arrest this criminal all was for nothing?”
The ICIR reports that the criticisms trailing the judgement he got from the court and grand reception offered him by his community are influenced by Nigeria’s high crime rate, which is one of the highest in Africa, as abductions, terrorism, and other crimes have plagued the country for years.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.
I fear for the future of our children with this kind of justice system. Someone that’s supposed to have been given a life sentence for his crimes is back home after fulfilling his full jail term of just 18 months. Worse still, he’s given a grand reception by the same people he terrorised and ‘spoilt’ their name! We’re in the gutters already.