The Adamawa State High Court on Thursday sentenced three men to death for abducting two Catholic priests in February 2025.
In his judgment, Justice Christopher Mapeo convicted the defendants of criminal conspiracy to commit kidnapping, kidnapping, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, armed robbery, harbouring a kidnapped person and negotiating to collect ransom for the release of Reverend Fathers Matthew Dutsemi and Abraham Sauman.
The convicts, identified as Taledo Demiel, Namomai Medan and Mikaila Yusuf, were sentenced to death for kidnapping, armed robbery and other related offences.
The latest judgment brings to seven the number of death sentences reportedly secured by the Department of State Services (DSS) this year.
On May 20, 2026, the Ekiti State High Court sentenced two men, Ibrahim Abubakar and Abdullahi Abubakar, to death by hanging for kidnapping.
On June 3, 2026, a Federal High Court in Abuja also sentenced four men to death by hanging for their involvement in the June 2022 massacre of worshippers at St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.
The convicts were identified as Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Alqasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik and Abdulkareem Idris.
On June 15, 2026, a Katsina State High Court sentenced a female arms courier, Hauwa’u Mukhtar, to death by hanging.
The following day, June 16, 2026, a Kogi State High Court handed Jibrin Halilu a death sentence by hanging for kidnapping and murdering his neighbour in Obajana, an industrial town in the state.
Similarly, on June 22, 2026, a Sokoto State High Court sentenced three men — Muhammed Yusuf Sallau, Jabbi Ahlaji Yale and Kabiru Muhammed — to death by hanging for terrorism and arms transportation.
On September 28, 2026, another Sokoto State High Court sentenced Ibrahim Usman, popularly known as Dan Iyali, to death by hanging over his involvement in the killing of three kidnapped victims in the state.