RismadarVoice Reporters, July 23, 2026
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has convicted three defendants on multiple terrorism-related charges arising from the Orire kidnapping of schoolchildren and teachers, after they pleaded guilty to six counts, while the charges they denied were adjourned for trial.
Justice Ibrahim Saleeman convicted Abdulrazaq Umar, also known as Abu Khalifa, Yunusa Musa, also known as Yunusa Bin-Musa, and Shamsudeen Adamu Sani after accepting their guilty pleas on several counts contained in the charge.
At the commencement of proceedings, the prosecution informed the court that the charge, filed on July 15, was ripe for arraignment. The court accepted the charge and directed that it be read to the defendants.
The three defendants pleaded guilty to Counts Four and Six, while Abdulrazaq Umar also pleaded guilty to Counts Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten. They, however, pleaded not guilty to the remaining counts, which were adjourned for trial.
Lead prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, told the court that under Section 270(4) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), where a defendant pleads guilty, the court is required to record the plea and proceed accordingly. He subsequently called the first prosecution witness, a Department of State Services officer identified only as Officer AA, to review the facts supporting the guilty pleas.
Testifying under a protective identity, the witness told the court that he led the investigation into the case. He said the three defendants voluntarily made statements in the presence of legal counsel and that investigators recovered digital evidence, including audio recordings stored on a flash drive.
The prosecution tendered the defendants’ statements, the flash drive and the investigation report, all of which were admitted in evidence by the court.
While reviewing the facts, Officer AA testified that on Count Four, investigations revealed that the defendants were close associates of key perpetrators of the Orire school kidnapping but failed to report their activities to law enforcement authorities.
On Count Six, the witness told the court that the defendants voluntarily confessed to being members of a proscribed terrorist organisation and disclosed when they joined the group.
Regarding Counts Seven to Ten, Officer AA said forensic analysis of Abdulrazaq Umar’s electronic devices uncovered WhatsApp groups through which he allegedly disseminated extremist and radical propaganda. He also testified that the first defendant admitted engaging in illegal mining.
Following the review of the evidence, the prosecution urged the court to convict the defendants on the counts to which they had pleaded guilty.
Counsel for the defendants did not oppose the application but urged the court to convict the defendants while deferring sentencing. The defence maintained that the convictions related to offences involving membership of a proscribed organisation and failure to disclose information, rather than the kidnapping itself.
In his judgment, Justice Saleeman convicted all three defendants on Counts Four and Six, while Abdulrazaq Umar was further convicted on Counts Seven, Eight, Nine and Ten.
The court sentenced the three defendants to 25 years’ imprisonment from the date of their arrest on the applicable counts. In addition, Abdulrazaq Umar and Yunusa Musa were sentenced to life imprisonment on Count Six.
The defendants will, however, stand trial on the outstanding counts to which they pleaded not guilty. The matter was adjourned to September 16 and 17 for continuation of the trial.
