Nigerian pleads guilty to U.S. charges of aiding al Qaeda group

33 year old Lawal Olaniyi Babafemi (pictured above) yesterday Tuesday April 29th pleaded guilty to terror charges in a US court. The Nigerian citizen is accused of providing material support to an al Qaeda affiliate, and participating in its media and recruitment campaigns, Reuters reports.

US prosecutors said that, from January 2010 to August 2011, Babafemi left Nigeria to Yemen twice to meet with some 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 US and its citizens," A U.S. Attorney said in a statement.

Prosecutors also say the al Qaeda leaders paid Babafemi, also known as 'Ayatollah Mustapha' almost $9,000 to recruit English-speaking people from Nigeria that would write for their online magazine called 'Inspire'. He was extradited August last year from Nigeria to the US.

Sentencing for the case has been scheduled for August 27th. Babafemi faces a maximum of 30 years in prison. So they are basically locking him for editing and getting writers for the al Qaeda magazine.