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A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced three men to life imprisonment for membership of a proscribed terrorist group linked to the abduction of schoolchildren and teachers in Orire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Justice Salim Ibrahim convicted and sentenced Abdulrazak Umar (alias Abu Khalifa/Abu Khalid), Yunusa Musa (alias Yunusa Bin Musa), and Shamsu Adamu Sani (alias Abu Itisar) after they pleaded guilty to two of the 10 counts brought against them by the Department of State Services (DSS).
All three admitted membership of Darul Salam, an affiliate of Ansaru (Jamā’atu Ansāril Muslimīna fī Bilādis Sūdān), a proscribed terrorist organisation in Nigeria.
The defendants also admitted concealing information about the abduction, confessing that those who carried out the kidnapping — Muhammad Sani, Jibril Mohammed and Ibrahim Khabab — were their associates.
They said they had knowledge of the plot but withheld it from security agencies.
Umar, in addition, personally pleaded guilty to four further counts: training and instructing terrorists, and using a WhatsApp group titled “The Oneness of Allah is the Foundation of Peace” to spread radical ideology and incite followers to acts of terrorism.
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A DSS operative identified only as “Witness AA” told the court that the confessions were made voluntarily and in the presence of the defendants’ lawyers.
The agency’s investigation report, forwarded to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, was tendered and admitted into evidence.
Defence counsel, A. A. Shetima, urged the court to show leniency, describing his clients as first-time offenders with aged parents and dependent families, and stressing that they had not participated directly in the abduction, only in concealing information about it.
The Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, opposed the plea, arguing that the abduction could have been prevented had the men come forward earlier.
He noted that security operatives lost their lives during the rescue operation and urged the court to impose the maximum sentence as a deterrent to banditry.
Justice Ibrahim agreed, sentencing all three to life imprisonment.
