Nearly 400 people have been sentenced in Nigeria for links with militant Islamic groups following mass trials. The convicts were given sentences ranging from five years to life imprisonment after being linked to Boko Haram or a rival splinter group, the Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap).
The trials come at a time when the government is under intense pressure to curb rising insecurity in Africa's most populous state. Security forces are battling multiple armed groups, from militant Islamists to separatists and kidnapping-for-ransom gangs.
Boko Haram launched an insurgency in the north-east in 2009, killing tens of thousands and displacing more than two million, according to aid groups.
On Wednesday, the US urged its citizens to reconsider traveling to the country due to the deteriorating security situation.
More than 500 suspects were tried in a federal high court in Abuja on charges including participation in attacks or supporting militants through funding, supplying arms, or logistical support. Of those tried, judges convicted 386 while two were acquitted, eight discharged, and 112 cases adjourned.
Five of the accused pleaded guilty to charges involving selling livestock and supplying food and information to the militant groups.
The US previously carried out airstrikes in the northern Sokoto state targeting a militant Islamist group known as Lakurawa after former President Donald Trump alleged that Christians faced persecution in Nigeria, a claim the Nigerian government denied, stating that victims of violence include individuals of all faiths.
