A federal high court sitting in Abuja has sentenced five men to prison terms after they admitted involvement in terrorism-related activities linked to the 2025 abduction of more than 300 students from a Catholic school in Niger State.
The convicts — Yusuf Mohammed, also known as Bature; Goni Ibrahim Bindi, also called Goni Mutuwa; Sani Tukur, also known as Danladi; Mubarak Ibrahim; and Musa Alhaji Adamu, also known as Gado Banufe — were arraigned by the Department of State Services (DSS) before Justice Binta Nyako.
One of the defendants is reported to be a citizen of the Republic of Niger.
They were charged on four counts bordering on terrorism financing, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, and withholding information about suspected terrorist activities.
During proceedings, the defendants pleaded guilty. The prosecution subsequently presented both documentary and physical evidence, including 15 AK-103 rifles and 1,434 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition recovered during investigations. Other exhibits included investigation reports and voluntary statements made by the accused, which were not challenged by the defence.
Following the review of evidence, the court convicted the five men and invited them for allocutus before sentencing.
Justice Nyako sentenced all the defendants to 25 years’ imprisonment on the first count. On additional charges, the third, fourth and fifth defendants each received seven-year sentences, while Yusuf Mohammed was handed an additional 25-year term on another count. The sentences are to run concurrently from the date of arrest.
The court also ordered that the convicts be held in facilities designated by the Minister of Interior and directed the forfeiture of all recovered exhibits, including a Volkswagen vehicle allegedly used in transporting the weapons, to the federal government.
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Court records showed that the defendants conspired to move arms — 15 AK-103 rifles and 1,434 rounds of ammunition — from the Diffa region of the Republic of Niger to a suspected Boko Haram associate identified as Malam Ahmad in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State. Some of the weapons were reportedly concealed in sacks of dried fish and intercepted along the Kano–Kaduna highway.
The case is connected to the November 2025 mass abduction at St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri village, Niger State, where gunmen seized 315 people, including 303 students and 12 teachers. Fifty pupils later escaped, while the remaining victims were gradually released in subsequent weeks.
