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 and armed robbery, armed robbery, harbouring a kidnapped person, and negotiating to collect ransom for the release of Reverend Fathers Matthew Dutsemi and Abraham Sauman.
Justice Christopher Mapeo, who presided over the case, delivered the death sentences on Thursday.
In a statement released the same day, the Department of State Services (DSS) listed other death sentences handed down by courts across Nigeria this year.
On September 28, a Sokoto High Court sentenced Ibrahim Usman, also known as Dan Iyali, to death by hanging over the killing of three kidnapped persons.
On June 22, another Sokoto court sentenced Muhammed Yusuf Sallau, Jabbi Ahlaji Yale and Kabiru Muhammed to death by hanging for terrorism and transporting arms.
On June 16, a Kogi State High Court sentenced Jibrin Halilu to death by hanging for kidnapping and murdering his neighbour in Obajana.
A day earlier, a Katsina High Court sentenced Hauwa’u Mukhtar, a female arms courier, to death by hanging.
On June 3, a Federal High Court in Abuja sentenced four men — Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Alqasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik and Abdulkareem Idris — to death by hanging over the June 2022 attack on St Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, which killed scores of worshippers.
On May 20, an Ekiti State High Court sentenced Ibrahim Abubakar and Abdullahi Abubakar to death by hanging for kidnapping.
