Five sentenced to 25 years over Papiri school abduction support role

An Abuja Federal High Court has convicted and sentenced five individuals to 25 years imprisonment each for their involvement in the November 21, 2025 attack on St. Mary’s Catholic School, Papiri village, Niger State.

The convicts—two of them Nigerien nationals—were found guilty of providing logistical and arms support to terrorists who carried out the mass abduction of students and teachers.

According to the court proceedings, the attackers arrived on motorcycles, stormed the school, and abducted students from their hostels. While about 50 students initially managed to escape, over 250 others were forced into the Kainji Lake Reserve Forest and held for days before eventual rescue. All abducted victims were later reunited with their families on December 24, 2025.

Following investigations by the Department of State Services (DSS), the five defendants were arrested and charged after being linked to the supply of weapons and support to the armed group.

Justice Binta Nyako sentenced the following individuals:

Yusuf Mohammed (aka Bature)

Goni Ibrahim Bindi (aka Goni Mutuwa)

Sani Tukur (aka Danladi)

Mubarak Ibrahim

Musa Alhaji Adamu (aka Gado Banufe).

The court found that they acted as arms couriers, transporting weapons including 15 AK-103 rifles and about 1,434 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition from the Diffa region of the Republic of Niger into Nigeria.

The weapons were allegedly concealed in sacks hidden inside a Volkswagen Golf vehicle loaded with dried fish. The arms were being delivered to a suspected Boko Haram member operating in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State.

The court held that the actions of the convicts violated provisions of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and the Firearms Act. They were also found guilty of failing to report information about terrorist activity in one of the cases.

In addition to the prison terms, the court ordered the forfeiture of the vehicle used in transporting the weapons to the Federal Government.

The case is part of ongoing counter-terrorism prosecutions in Nigeria targeting logistics networks supporting insurgent groups operating in the North-West and North-Central regions.

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