A Nigerian citizen pleaded guilty on Tuesday to U.S. charges of providing material support to an al Qaeda affiliate, and participating in its media and recruitment campaigns.
Lawal Olaniyi Babafemi, 33, appearing before a
federal judge in Brooklyn, New York, pleaded guilty to providing
material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization.
The plea came ahead of a July 14 trial date
and followed a Nigerian court’s decision in August to grant a U.S.
request for Babafemi’s extradition.
Prosecutors said that, from January 2010 to
August 2011, Babafemi traveled from Nigeria to Yemen twice to meet with
leaders of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, known as AQAP
“The defendant traveled to Yemen to put
himself at the disposal of a violent terrorist organization that has
repeatedly demonstrated its determination to inflict bodily and economic
harm on the United States and its citizens,” Brooklyn U.S. Attorney
Loretta Lynch said in a statement.
The U.S. government said Babafemi worked on
AQAP’s media operations, including the publication of its magazine,
called “Inspire.”
The group’s leadership, including Anwar
al-Awlaki, paid Babafemi almost $9,000 to recruit English-speaking
people from Nigeria, prosecutors said. Awlaki, a U.S. citizen born in
New Mexico, was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Yemen in 2011.
An indictment unsealed in February 2013
charged Babafemi, also known as “Ayatollah Mustapha,” with four counts
including conspiracy to provide material support to AQAP, and use of
firearms.
U.S. District Judge John Gleeson scheduled sentencing for August 27. Babafemi faces a maximum of 30 years in prison.
No comments:
Post a Comment