Three men connected to the kidnapping of teachers and pupils in Oyo State’s Oriire Local Government Area were given life sentences by the Federal High Court in Abuja.

In his ruling, Justice Salim Ibrahim mandated that the life terms given to Shamsu Adamu Sani (Abu Itisar), Yunusa Musa (Yunusa Bin Musa), and Abdulrazak Umar, also known as Abu Khalifa/Abu Khalid, to begin on the day of their arrest.

The defendants’ attorneys begged the court to balance justice with mercy prior to sentencing, pointing out that they were first-time offenders who had entered guilty pleas, shown regret, and had dependents in the form of wives, kids, and ageing parents.

However, the prosecution rejected the request for leniency, claiming that even though the prisoners were aware of the intended attack, they wilfully withheld information about terrorist operations and neglected to warn security authorities.

The three men entered guilty pleas to membership in a terrorist organization that is prohibited and to hiding information about the preparation and carrying out of the kidnapping at the school.

Abdulrazak Umar also entered a guilty plea to four other charges pertaining to providing operational orders, training terrorists, and using extremist religious doctrine to incite members of the terror group.

The accused were charged with ten counts of kidnapping, terrorism-related offences, and information concealment by the Department of State Services (DSS).

The three, all from Niger State, are accused of participating in kidnapping operations, using a messaging tool to support terrorist coordination and training, and purposefully withholding intelligence about terrorist actions.