A High Court sitting in Sokoto State has sentenced three men, including a Nigerien national, to death by hanging after finding them guilty of terrorism and arms proliferation.
The convicts, Yusuf Muhammad (alias Sallau), a Nigerien, Jabbi Alhaji Yalle, and Kabiru Muhammad, were arrested on June 13, 2025, by the Department of State Services (DSS) Counter Terrorism Unit over their involvement in cross-border arms trafficking and terrorism-related activities.
The trial, marked SS/45c/2026, was presided over by Justice Muhammad Nuraddeen Bello of High Court No. 23, Sokoto.
Delivering judgment, Justice Bello convicted the three defendants on all counts and sentenced them to death by hanging. The court also ordered the forfeiture of all money recovered from the convicts to the Federal Government.
Justice Bello described the conviction as another milestone in the DSS’s sustained crackdown on terrorism and organised cross-border criminal networks operating in Nigeria.
The judgment comes barely two weeks after the Federal High Court in Abuja sentenced five terrorism suspects arrested by the DSS on May 31, 2026, to 25 years’ imprisonment each for their involvement in the November 21, 2025, attack on St. Mary’s Catholic School, Papiri, in Niger State.
Justice Binta Nyako delivered the judgment after the five defendants, including two Nigerien nationals, pleaded guilty to four terrorism-related charges.
The charges included conspiracy to support terrorism and illegal firearms offences in violation of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and the Firearms Act.
According to the prosecution, the convicts conspired to transport 15 AK-103 rifles and about 1,434 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition from the Diffa Region of the Republic of Niger to one Malam Ahmad, identified as a member of the Boko Haram terrorist group operating in Borgu, Niger State.
The DSS arrested the suspects at different locations during coordinated counter-terrorism operations.
