High Court in Sokoto State has sentenced three men, including a Nigerien national, to death by hanging after finding them guilty of terrorism-related offences and arms proliferation.
Gatekeepers News reports that the convicts — Yusuf Muhammad, also known as Sallau, a citizen of Niger Republic, alongside Jabbi Alhaji Yalle and Kabiru Muhammad — were arrested on June 13, 2025, by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) Counter Terrorism Unit over alleged involvement in cross-border arms trafficking and terrorism activities.
The case, marked SS/45C/2026, was heard before Justice Muhammad Nuraddeen Bello of High Court No. 23 in Sokoto.
Delivering judgment, Justice Bello convicted all three defendants on the charges brought against them and sentenced them to death by hanging.
The court also ordered that all monetary exhibits recovered from the convicts be forfeited to the Federal Government.
“The conviction is the latest in a series of successful prosecutions by the DSS in its sustained operations against terrorism and organised cross-border criminal networks across Nigeria,” Justice Bello said.
The ruling comes weeks after the Federal High Court in Abuja sentenced five men arrested by the DSS over their alleged involvement in the November 21, 2025 attack on St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, Niger State, to 25 years imprisonment each.
Justice Binta Nyako delivered the judgment after the defendants, including two Nigerien nationals, pleaded guilty to four terrorism-related charges.
The charges included providing support for terrorist activities, contrary to provisions of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and the Firearms Act.
According to court documents, the suspects were accused of conspiring to facilitate the transportation of 15 AK-103 rifles and about 1,434 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition from the Diffa Region of Niger Republic to an alleged Boko Haram member identified as Malam Ahmad in Borgu, Niger State.
Prosecutors argued that the action constituted support for terrorism under the provisions of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The DSS had arrested the suspects at different locations during intelligence-led operations.
