NEW YORK
A federal judge today sentenced terrorist Lawal Olaniyi Babafemi, 35, a Nigerian citizen, to 22 years in prison for conspiring to help and supportmat to al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula , officials said.
Babafemi pleaded guilty to providing and conspiring to provide material support to al-Qaeda on April 29, 2014.
According to previous court filings, between approximately January 2010 and August 2011, the defendant traveled twice from Nigeria to Yemen to meet and train with leaders of the terrorist group, the Yemen-based branch of al-Qaeda that has been linked to a number of plots targeting the U.S. homeland over the past decade.
al Qaeda leaders trained Babafemi in the use of weapons, including AK-47 assault rifles, and taught him the importance of al-Qaeda English-language media operations to its mission of inspiring “lone-wolf” style attacks abroad in the name of al-Qaeda.
Babafemi assisted in al-Qaeda’s English-language media operations, which include the publication of the online Inspire Magazine, and worked closely with Samir Khan, the founder of Inspire and a U.S. citizen.
Babafemi’s photograph, alongside Khan and other al-Qaeda members, each holding an AK-47, was published in Issue 5 of Inspire; he also wrote rap lyrics on behalf of the group, hoping to extend its appeal to young Westerners.
At the direction of the now-deceased senior al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Aulaqi, al-Qaeda provided Babafemi with the equivalent of almost $9,000 in cash to recruit other English-speakers from Nigeria to join the terrorist organization.
Babafemi attempted to recruit other Nigerians to join the terrorist group, but was arrested before he could complete that mission and conduct further activities on behalf of the organization.
“With this sentence, Lawal Olaniyi Babafemi is being held accountable for conspiring with members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and providing material support to the foreign terrorist organization,” said Assistant Attorney General John Carlin. “Babafemi travelled to Yemen to receive weapons training and to learn how to contribute to AQAP’s English-language media operation, in addition to receiving money to recruit others to join AQAP’s ranks. Counterterrorism is the National Security Division’s highest priority and we will continue our efforts to detect, deter and hold accountable those who provide material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations.”