Terrorism: Five sentenced to 25 years in prison for roles in Papiri school abduction

By Ikechukwu Nnochiri

ABUJA — The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Thursday, convicted and sentenced five persons to 25 years in prison for the roles they played in the November 21, 2025 attack on St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri village, Niger State.

The convicts, among whom are two Nigeriens, admitted that they rendered assistance to terrorists who stormed the school on motorcycles and abducted students and teachers at gunpoint.

While about 50 of the students who were taken from their hostels managed to escape, the gunmen were said to have marched over 250 students for days into the Kainji Lake Reserve Forest.

Although all the abducted persons were rescued and reunited with their families on December 24, 2025, an investigation by the Department of State Services (DSS) led to the arrest of the five persons the court convicted on Friday, after they pleaded guilty to four-count terrorism-related charges the Federal Government entered against them.

Those convicted in the judgment, delivered by Justice Binta Nyako, are Yusuf Mohammed (a.k.a. Bature), Goni Ibrahim Bindi (a.k.a. Goni Mutuwa), Sani Tukur (a.k.a. Danladi), Mubarak Ibrahim, and Musa Alhaji Adamu (a.k.a. Gado Banufe).

Specifically, the convicts admitted that they were arms couriers to the gunmen.

The prosecution told the court that some of the arms they conveyed included 15 AK-103 rifles as well as about 1,434 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition from the Diffa region, Republic of Niger, to one Malam Ahmad, a member of the Boko Haram terrorist group based in Borgu LGA of Niger State.

Security operatives discovered the arms tucked in sacks hidden inside a Volkswagen Golf car.

By that action, they committed an offence contrary to Section 26(1) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

The court ordered that the car, which was tendered in evidence alongside the recovered arms and ammunition, be forfeited to the federal government.

Some of the charges the court found the convicts guilty of read: “That you, Yusuf Muhammad (a.k.a. Bature), adult, male, thirty-three (33) years old, of Gofanti village, Borgu LGA, Niger State; Goni Ibrahim Bindi (a.k.a. Goni Mutuwa), adult, male, twenty-three (23) years old, of Awadiri, Diffa region, Republic of Niger; Sani Tukur (a.k.a. Danladi), adult, male, twenty-five (25) years old, of Sansani Displaced Persons Camp, Diffa region, Republic of Niger; Mubarak Ibrahim, adult, male, twenty-eight (28) years old, of Gofanti village, Borgu LGA of Niger State; and Musa Alhaji Adamu (a.k.a. Gado Banufe), between the 23rd and 24th of April, 2026, did commit an offence, to wit: rendered support for the commission of an act of terrorism to a terrorist by agreeing to and conveying fifteen (15) AK-103 rifles as well as about one thousand, four hundred and thirty-four (1,434) rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition from the Diffa region, Republic of Niger, on behalf of one Malam Ahmad, a member of the Boko Haram terrorist group based in Borgu LGA of Niger State. You thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 13(1) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

“That you, Goni Ibrahim Bindi (a.k.a. Goni Mutuwa), adult, male, twenty-three (23) years old, of Awadiri, Diffa region, Republic of Niger; Sani Tukur (a.k.a. Danladi), adult, male, twenty-five (25) years old, of Sansani Displaced Persons Camp, Diffa region, Republic of Niger; and Musa Alhaji Adamu (a.k.a. Gado Banufe), sometime between the 23rd and 24th of April, 2026, at Kwangila area, along the Kano-Kaduna Expressway, Zaria, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did commit an offence, to wit: you had in your possession fifteen (15) AK-103 rifles and about one thousand, four hundred and thirty-four (1,434) rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition, carefully concealed in sacks containing dried fish loaded in a blue Volkswagen Golf 3 car with Republic of Niger registered plate number BT 9990 DA. You thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 27(1)(a)(i) and (b)(ii) of the Firearms Act, CAP F28 LFN, 2004.

“That you, Yusuf Muhammad (a.k.a. Bature), adult, male, thirty-three (33) years old, of Gofanti village, Borgu LGA, Niger State, sometime between February 2025 and April 2026, did commit an offence, to wit: you had information which you knew or believed to be of material assistance in securing the apprehension, prosecution, or conviction of Malam Ahmad, a known terrorist operating in Gandu forest, Borgu LGA of Niger State, and you failed to disclose such information to law enforcement or security officers. You thereby committed an offence in contravention of Section 16 of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”

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