The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday sentenced each of the five persons arrested on May 31, 2026, by the Department of State Services (DSS) for their involvement in the November 21, 2025, attack on St. Joseph Catholic School, Papiri, Niger State, to 25 years in prison.
In what could pass as the fastest terrorism trial in Nigerian history, Justice Binta Nyako handed down the sentence shortly after the five men, including two Nigeriens, pleaded guilty to all four terrorism-related charges brought against them.
The charges bordered on support for the commission of an act of terrorism, breaching both Section 16 of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and the Firearms Act.
The five men, Yusuf Muhammad (aka Bature), Goni Ibrahim Bindi (aka Goni Mutuwa), Sani Tukur (aka Danladi), Mubarak Ibrahim, and Musa Alhaji Adamu (aka Gado Banufe), were arrested at different locations by DSS operatives less than two weeks ago.
In one of the arrests, DSS operatives recovered 15 AK-47 rifles and 1,434 rounds of live ammunition concealed in sacks in a Volkswagen Golf car.
The recovered arms and ammunition were tendered in court. The court ordered the forfeiture of the Golf car to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
Dozens of gunmen on motorcycles had, in the early hours of November 21, 2025, stormed the Catholic primary and secondary boarding school, rounding up students and teachers at gunpoint.
While about 50 of the children managed to escape in the chaos that followed the attack, the gunmen marched more than 250 students for days into the Kainji Lake Reserve Forest.
Counts in the charge against the defendants read, “That you, Yusuf Muhammad (aka Bature), adult male, thirty-three (33) years old, of Gofanti Village, Borgu LGA, Niger State; Goni Ibrahim Bindi (aka Goni Mutua), adult male, twenty-three (23) years old, of Awadiri, Diffa Region, Republic of Niger; Sani Tukur (aka 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, Niger State; and Musa Alhaji Adamu (aka Gado Banufe), between April 23 and 24, 2026, committed an offence, to wit: jointly conspired to render assistance to a terrorist by agreeing and intentionally playing various roles towards 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 of the Republic of Niger to 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 26(1) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
“That you, Yusuf Muhammad (aka Bature), adult male, thirty-three (33) years old, of Gofanti Village, Borgu LGA, Niger State; Goni Ibrahim Bindi (aka Goni Mutua), adult male, twenty-three (23) years old, of Awadiri, Diffa Region, Republic of Niger; Sani Tukur (aka 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, Niger State; and Musa Alhaji Adamu (aka Gado Banufe), between April 23 and 24, 2026, committed an offence, to wit: rendered support for the commission of an act of terrorism to a terrorist by agreeing to convey 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 of the 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 (aka Goni Mutuwa), adult male, twenty-three (23) years old, of Awadiri, Diffa Region, Republic of Niger; Sani Tukur (aka Danladi), adult male, twenty-five (25) years old, of Sansani Displaced Persons Camp, Diffa Region, Republic of Niger; and Musa Alhaji Adamu (aka Gado Banufe), sometime between April 23 and 24, 2026, at Kwangila area, along the Kano–Kaduna Expressway, Zaria, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, committed 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 registration 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, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
“That you, Yusuf Muhammad (aka Bature), adult male, thirty-three (33) years old, of Gofanti Village, Borgu LGA, Niger State, sometime between February 2025 and April 2026, committed 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 hibernating 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.”
