By Kingston Magare 11.6.2026
In what appears to be a record trial and conviction of terror suspects in Nigeria, a Federal High Court, sitting in Abuja on Thursday slammed a 25-year jail sentence on five suspects accused of carrying out the kidnap of students from St. Joseph Catholic School, Papiri, Niger State.
The suspects including Yusuf Muhammad aka Bature, 33, Goni Ibrahim Bindi a.k.a Goni Mutuwa, 23, Sani Tukur aka Danladi, 25, Mubarak Ibrahim, 28, and Musa Alhaji Adamu aka Gado Banufe. They were picked up by the Department of State Services on May 31, 2026, for their suspected participation in the attack on the Niger school on November 21, 2025.
The Federal High Court presided by Justice Binta Nyako handed down the sentence in what could be Nigeria’s fastest dispensation of justice to criminals. All the five suspects, of which two are from Niger Republic, pleaded guilty to terrorism charges brought against them by the DSS prosecutors.
The charges bordered on support for the commission of an act of terrorism, breaching both Section 16 of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and the Firearms Act.
The DSS recovered 15 AK-47 rifles, 1,434 rounds of live ammunition and a Volkswagen Golf car from the suspects, which were presented in court during the trial. The court ordered the forfeiture of the Golf car to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
About 250 students were taken from St Joseph Catholic Primary school by the gunmen and marched into the forest. 50 of them escaped before the others were rescued by the government. A hefty amount of ransom was allegedly paid, the government denied the allegations.
The convicted suspects.
