Three individuals have received life sentences from the Federal High Court in Abuja for their involvement in the abduction of teachers and students from a school located in Orire Local Government Area (LGA), Oyo State.
Justice Salim Ibrahim handed down the conviction and sentence after the defendants—Abdulrazak Umar (a.k.a. Abu Khalifa/Abu Khalid), Yunusa Musa (a.k.a. Yunusa bin Musa), and Shamsu Adamu Sani (a.k.a. Abu Itisar)—admitted guilt to several charges brought by the Federal Government.
On Thursday, the trio appeared in court to face a 10-count charge covering offences related to terrorism, kidnapping, concealment, incitement, and illegal mining.
Upon their arraignment, the men acknowledged withholding information regarding the orchestrators of the school abduction. They also admitted belonging to Darul Salam, described as an affiliate of Jamaatu Asarul Muslima Fi Bilandis Sudan (Ansaru), a banned terrorist group in Nigeria.
Although all three defendants admitted guilt to counts four and six, only the 1st defendant, Umar, alias Abu Khalid, pleaded guilty to counts 7, 8, 9, and 10. These specific counts related to claims that he conducted training and gave instructions to terrorists through a WhatsApp group named “The Oneness of Allah is the Foundation of Peace”. They maintained a not-guilty plea for the remaining counts.
Following their admissions, the Federal Government’s legal team leader, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, urged the court to convict and sentence the defendants based on the counts to which they confessed.