Abuja court jails three for life over Oriire school abduction

The Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced three men to life imprisonment for their roles in the abduction of students and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.

The convicts are Abdulrazak Umar, also known as Abu Khalifa or Abu Khalid; Yunusa Musa, also known as Yunusa Bin Musa; and Shamsu Adamu Sani, also known as Abu Itisar.

The trial judge, Justice Salim Ibrahim ordered that the life sentences should take effect from the date of their arrest.

Before the sentencing, counsel to the defendants urged the court to temper justice with mercy, arguing that the convicts were first-time offenders who had pleaded guilty and shown remorse.

He also told the court that they were married with children and had elderly parents who depended on them, and appealed for leniency.

The prosecution, however, opposed the plea, arguing that the convicts had prior knowledge of the activities of the terrorist group and ought to have reported the information to the appropriate authorities.

The court subsequently sentenced the three men after they pleaded guilty to membership of a proscribed terrorist group and other terrorism-related offences.

While all three defendants admitted concealing information relating to the planning and execution of the abduction, Umar alone pleaded guilty to additional counts involving terrorist training, issuing instructions and inciting members of the group on a particular religious ideology.

The defendants were arraigned by the Department of State Services (DSS) on a 10-count charge bordering on kidnapping, concealment of information and terrorism-related offences.

According to the charges, the defendants, who are all from Niger State, knowingly withheld information about individuals linked to terrorist activities, participated in the kidnapping and used a messaging platform to facilitate terrorist training.

Bar & Bench Watch reports that the case arose from the abduction of students and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.

Following investigations, the DSS charged the three defendants with terrorism-related offences, including membership of a proscribed terrorist organisation, concealment of information, kidnapping and facilitating terrorist training.

All three pleaded guilty to the charges brought against them before the Federal High Court.