Three men bag death sentence over abduction of Catholic Priests

Three men were sentenced to death on Thursday for their involvement in the kidnapping of two Catholic priests, Reverend Fathers Matthew Dutsemi and Abraham Sauman, in February 2025 in Adamawa State.

The three men identified as Taledo Demiel, Namomai Medan and Mikaila Yusuf were convicted by Justice Christopher Mapeo of Adamawa High Court.

They were arraigned on charges bordering on criminal conspiracy to commit kidnapping, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, armed robbery, harbouring a kidnapped person and negotiating to collect ransom for the priests’ release.

The court found the three defendants guilty of the offences and sentenced them to death for their roles in the kidnapping and related crimes.

The sentencing of the three men increased the number of death sentence secured by the Department of State Services (DSS) for suspects involved in kidnapping and terrorism so far in 2026 to seven.

On May 20, 2026, an Ekiti State High Court sentenced Ibrahim Abubakar and Abdullahi Abubakar to death by hanging for kidnapping.

On June 3, a Federal High Court in Abuja sentenced four men to death by hanging over their involvement in the June 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, which claimed the lives of scores of worshippers.

The convicts were identified as Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Alqasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik and Abdulkareem Idris.

On June 15, a Katsina State High Court sentenced Hauwa’u Mukhtar, described as a female arms courier, to death by hanging. A day later, a Kogi State High Court handed the same sentence to Jibrin Halilu for kidnapping and murdering his neighbour in Obajana, an industrial town in the state.

On June 22, a Sokoto State High Court sentenced three men—Muhammed Yusuf Sallau, Jabbi Ahlaji Yale and Kabiru Muhammed—to death by hanging for terrorism-related offences and transporting arms.

More recently, on September 28, a Sokoto State High Court sentenced Ibrahim Usman, also known as Dan Iyali, to death by hanging over his involvement in the killing of three kidnapped persons in the state.