A High Court in Adamawa State has sentenced three men to death for kidnapping two Catholic priests in February 2025.
The convicts, Taledo Demiel, Namomai Medan and Mikaila Yusuf, were found guilty of criminal conspiracy to commit kidnapping, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, armed robbery, harbouring a kidnapped person and negotiating to receive ransom for the release of Reverend Fathers Matthew Dutsemi and Abraham Sauman.
Delivering judgment on Thursday, the presiding judge, Christopher Mapeo, sentenced the three men to death.
In a statement on Thursday, the Department of State Services (DSS) highlighted several death sentences handed down by courts across Nigeria this year.
On September 28, a Sokoto State High Court sentenced Ibrahim Usman, also known as Dan Iyali, to death by hanging for his involvement in the killing of three kidnapped persons in the state.
Earlier, on June 22, another Sokoto State High Court sentenced three men, Muhammed Yusuf Sallau, Jabbi Ahlaji Yale and Kabiru Muhammed, to death by hanging for terrorism and transporting arms.
A High Court in Kogi State had, on June 16, sentenced Jibrin Halilu to death by hanging for kidnapping and murdering his neighbour in Obajana, an industrial town in the state.
On June 15, a High Court in Katsina State sentenced Hauwa’u Mukhtar, described as a female arms courier, to death by hanging.
On June 3, a Federal High Court in Abuja sentenced four men to death by hanging for their involvement in the June 2022 massacre at St Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, where scores of worshippers were killed.
The convicts were identified as Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Alqasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik and Abdulkareem Idris.
Similarly, on May 20, an Ekiti State High Court sentenced Ibrahim Abubakar and Abdullahi Abubakar to death by hanging for kidnapping.
Chronicle NG reports that the cases formed part of the death sentences highlighted by the DSS in its statement on Thursday.
