A High Court in Maiduguri on Wednesday sentenced 19 students to six years imprisonment each for cultism.

Delivering judgment, Justice Umar Fadawu, held that there was sufficient evidence proving that each of the defendants committed the offence of conspiracy and management/membership of an unlawful society.

The convicts were arrested by the police on Sept. 21, 2019 in a hotel in Maiduguri for being members of an unlawful society, Neo Black Movement a.k.a Black Axe.

Faduwu after considering plea from some of the convicts and their counsel, Mr Ahmed Hamman, who pleaded for leniency, sentenced the convicts to six years each on each of the two counts without an option of fine.

“The court hereby sentence you Arnold Augustine, Onu Chiduben, David Emmanuel, Awuto Abayomi, Mustapha Abulkadir, Levi Epraim, Onuebu Godspower Chibuzor, Ben Oni, Yakubu Chiroma, Mohammed Adamu, Calvin Ijafiya, Henry Michael Ujah, Chris Kallu, Totsi Samuel, Onwuka Ugochukwu, Audi Yohana, Samuel Talba, Donald Omguze and Joseph Olaiya to six years imprisonment for each of the charge..

“The prison terms shall run concurrently from today, Oct. 20,” Fadawu ruled.