A Nigerian federal court has convicted 386 people on terrorism-related charges following a sweeping four-day mass trial in the capital, Abuja, marking one of the country's most significant legal actions against Islamist militancy to date. The convictions, handed down on Friday by a panel of ten judges, targeted individuals linked to Boko Haram and its breakaway affiliate, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Sentences ranged from five years to life imprisonment, with many defendants receiving terms of up to 20 years.

Of the more than 500 suspects brought before the court, 386 were convicted, two were acquitted, eight were discharged, and the cases of 112 others were adjourned. Several defendants had pleaded guilty at the outset, admitting to charges that included supplying food, livestock, information, and arms to militant groups. Nigeria's attorney general framed the outcome as a clear message of accountability, telling journalists: "We have been able to bring justice to them, or bring them to justice. This is the clear signal that we are sending."

The trials come against a backdrop of deepening insecurity across Africa's most populous nation. Boko Haram's insurgency, which began in the northeast in 2009, has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than two million people. Beyond the northeast, Nigeria faces threats from the IS-linked Lakurawa group operating near the Niger border, deadly clashes between Fulani herders and farming communities in the north-central belt, and criminal gangs engaged in kidnapping for ransom. The scale and variety of armed violence have placed the government under sustained domestic and international pressure.

That pressure was underscored this week when the United States urged its citizens to reconsider travel to Nigeria, citing the deteriorating security environment. The mass trial appears designed in part to demonstrate that Nigerian institutions are capable of processing and prosecuting large numbers of terrorism suspects within the formal justice system, rather than relying solely on military operations. Whether the convictions will meaningfully deter recruitment or disrupt militant networks remains an open question, but officials and observers alike are watching closely to see whether the courts can sustain this pace of prosecution.