Boko Haram militant involved in Chibok 2014 kidnapping jailed

A Nigerian court has jailed a Boko Haram militant involved in the 2014 kidnapping of the Chibok girls.

Haruna Yahaya, 35, is the first member of the group to be sentenced for playing a part in the mass abduction.

Judges sitting at a military court in Kanji however dismissed his excuse as they were unmoved by his please for leniency on the grounds of his disability, which has left him with a paralysed arm and deformed leg, BBC News' Ishaq Khalid reports.

Justice ministry spokesman Salihu Isah confirmed to news agency AFP that Yahaya was given a 15-year jail sentence.

A total of 276 students were seized from the Government Girls Secondary School in the remote town in Borno state on the evening of April 14, 2014.

Fifty-seven escaped in the immediate aftermath. Since May 2016, a further 107 have escaped, been found or released after government talks with the militants, leaving 112 still in captivity.

This week, some 700 of the suspected militants are due to appear before the judges in Kanji, according to sources at the court.

On Monday, 20 were found guilty of crimes associated with Boko Haram, while two were discharged for lack of evidence.

Justice ministry spokesman Salihu Isah said Yahaya admitted to being involved when he appeared at a special court trying hundreds of Boko Haram suspects on Monday.