Justice Salim Ibrahim of the Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced three men to life imprisonment for their roles in the kidnapping of school children and teachers at Oriire Local Government Area (LGA) of Oyo State.
The convicts Abdulrazak Umar (a.k.a. Abu Khalifa/Abu Khalid), Yunusa Musa (a.k.a. Yunusa bin Musa), and Shamsu Adamu Sani (a.k.a. Abu Itisar) were convicted after pleading guilty to several terrorism-related charges.
The defendants, all from Suleja LGA in Niger State, were arraigned on a 10-count charge bordering on terrorism, kidnapping, concealment of information, incitement, and illegal mining.
They admitted to concealing information about the masterminds of the school attack and acknowledged their membership of Darul Salam, an affiliate of the proscribed terrorist organisation Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi Biladis Sudan (Ansaru).
While the trio maintained their innocence on Counts 1, 2, 4, and 5, they pleaded guilty to other counts. Only the first defendant, Umar, further pleaded guilty to Counts 7, 8, 9, and 10, which alleged that he provided training and instructions to terrorists through a WhatsApp group titled “The Oneness of Allah is the Foundation of Peace.”
The prosecution alleged that between January and May 2026, the defendants conspired with Muhammad Sani, Jibril Mohammed, and Ibrahim Khabab to kidnap the school children and teachers in Oyo State, in violation of Section 26(1) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
They were also accused of aiding the kidnapping and concealing information about the masterminds, contrary to Sections 26(2) and 16(1) of the Act.
During proceedings, the prosecution urged the court to convict the defendants on the counts to which they pleaded guilty, in line with Section 274 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, and to fix a date for the trial of the remaining counts.
Defence counsel requested that sentencing on the guilty counts be deferred until the conclusion of the trial on the contested charges. The prosecution opposed this, arguing that the law requires immediate conviction and sentencing on counts where guilty pleas were entered.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court reviewed the facts of the case. The prosecution called its first witness, an investigator with the Department of State Services (DSS) identified by the pseudonym AAA. The witness testified that the defendants made voluntary extra-judicial statements in the presence of their lawyer, which were electronically recorded and endorsed by the defendants and their counsel. The recordings were tendered in evidence.
Justice Ibrahim subsequently convicted and sentenced the three defendants to life imprisonment on the counts to which they pleaded guilty.
The matter has been adjourned to September 16 and 17, 2026, for the continuation of trial on the remaining counts.
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