A Nigerian newspaper publisher faces up to 15 years in prison after being charged on Tuesday with belonging to the virtually unheard of terrorist group known as "The Nigerian Taliban".
Mohammed Damagun, 50, a director of Media Trust Limited, publishers of the Daily Trust newspaper, pleaded not guilty to three charges of terrorism.
Charged under the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) law, he is alleged to have received $300 000 (about R2,5-million) from an international terrorist organisation, the Sudan-based Al-Qaeda World Network.
Court papers allege Damagun deposited the money in a British bank with the intention of using the money to finance terrorist acts.
Damagun was also accused of facilitating the commission of terrorist acts by recruiting, sponsoring and ferrying 17 members of the group's militia arm to receive combat training at a camp in Mauritania. - Sapa-AFP