Abdulmutallab gets life jail, family pleads for mercy

AbdulmuttalabIT was an expected sad end for Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab considering his hard-line stance and admission of guilt before the United States (U.S.) court, which tried him for attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 about three years ago.

So, when the American District Judge Nancy Edmunds yesterday ruled that Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian now tagged “underwear bomber,“ must spend the rest of his life behind bars for trying to blow up a packed airliner on Christmas Day in 2009, the verdict did not shock followers of the court proceedings.

Abdulmutallab, 25, had pleaded guilty in October last year to the eight-count charge, including the attempt to murder 289 people on board the Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines Flight 253, which American officials later determined was an al Qaeda plot.

Only on Wednesday, his counsel expressed shock that Abdulmutallab was still defiant, noting that the position had made it difficult to plead for clemency.

Edmunds imposed the life sentence on Abdulmutallab, who came to the courtroom in Detroit an oversized white T-shirt and a white skull cap. His hands were unshackled as soon as he entered.

The convict showed no emotion as Edmunds handed down the maximum sentences for each count.

“The defendant has stated and it is clear that he has enormous motivation to carry out another terrorist attack,” Edmunds said.

“This court has no ability to control the defendant’s motivation, which does appear to be unchanged, however I can control the defendant’s opportunity to carry out those actions.”

According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Abdulmutallab’s family yesterday said they were “grateful to God that the unfortunate incident of that date did not result in any injury or death.

“We strongly appeal to the American Justice Department to review the life sentence,” they said. “We also appeal to the Federal Republic of Nigeria to continue with their support and engage with the American government to ensure that a review is made.”

The botched attack, prosecutors said was a plot hatched by slain Al-Qaeda preacher Anwar al-Awlaqi.

The reputation of the U.S. intelligence services took a hit because Abdulmutallab’s father had warned the Criminal Investigation Agency (CIA) about his son’s growing radicalisation.

He was born in Lagos on December 22, 1986 and is the youngest of the 16 children of Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, a former Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria Plc and former Federal Commissioner for Economic Development. His mother, Aisha, is the second of his father’s two wives.

The family comes from Funtua in Katsina State. Abdulmutallab was raised initially in Kaduna, and at the family home in Nairobi, Kenya. As a young boy, he attended the Essence International School in Kaduna, as well as classes at the Rabiatu Mutallib Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies. As achild, he enjoyed playing PlayStation and basketball.

He attended high school at the British International School in Lomé, the capital of Togo.

Abdulmutallab was known as a devout Muslim and for preaching about Islam to his schoolmates.

Despite stringent security measures at airports in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, Abdulmutallab managed to smuggle 76 grammes of the explosive Pentaerythritol tetranitrate on board the flight from Amsterdam.