Nigeria welcomes US trial of Abdulmutallab

Nigeria welcomes US trial of Abdulmutallab

The Nigerian Foreign Affairs Minister, Olugbenga Ashiru, has welcomed the US trial of Umar Abdulmutallab few hours after the Nigerian pleaded guilty of trying to blow up a US-bound plane on Christmas Day in 2009.

Abdulmutallab pleaded guilty to eight criminal counts, including attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and attempted murder of 289 people on the second day of his trial before a US Federal Court in Detroit, Michigan, USA.

Reports say the 24-year-old Nigerian, who is still in US custody awaiting sentence on January 12, 2012, is likely to spend the rest of his life in prison.

Fair trial

Shortly after the proceedings in Detroit, Ashiru told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York that he considered the trial “fair” by all standards.

He said “Abdulmutallab has gone through a fair trial - the process of jury selection and so on, and you saw that he had a lawyer to defend him.

“Until you are proven guilty in court, we stand by our nationals and even when they are jailed, we still visit them in prison.

We do not abandon them solely because they have been sentenced, we will continue to provide all consular assistance to such people, including Abdulmuttalab, whenever he is sentenced.’’

Ashiru also reaffirmed Nigeria's commitment to the fight against terrorism.
The minister said Nigeria would continue to work with other stakeholders to tackle terrorism.

The Crime

The US authorities said the 24-year old, managed to smuggle a packet of highly explosive PETN aboard the flight, along with some liquid in a syringe that he used as a detonator.

After the explosives caught fire, he was overpowered by passengers and the crew.

NP/Adekusibe/Williams