DSS Opposes Leniency as Court Hands Life Imprisonment to Three Oriire Kidnap Suspects
The Department of State Services (DSS) opposed calls for leniency for three men convicted over their roles in the abduction of students and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, insisting that their actions aided terrorist operations.
During the proceedings at the Federal High Court in Abuja, counsel to the defendants urged the court to temper justice with mercy, arguing that the convicts were first-time offenders who had pleaded guilty and shown remorse.
The defence further submitted that the offences admitted by the defendants did not all directly relate to kidnapping, adding that they were married with children and had elderly parents who depended on them for survival. The lawyer appealed to the court to impose lighter sentences.
However, the DSS prosecution rejected the plea, maintaining that the defendants knowingly associated with terrorists and were fully aware of the activities of members of the terrorist group.
The prosecution argued that, as citizens, the convicts had a duty to report terrorist activities to security agencies instead of concealing information that aided criminal operations.
The three defendants, Abdulrazak Umar, also known as Abu Khalifa or Abu Khalid; Yunusa Musa, also known as Yunusa Bin Musa; and Shamsu Adamu Sani, also known as Abu Itisar, pleaded guilty to membership of a proscribed terrorist organisation.
They also admitted concealing information relating to the planning and execution of the Oriire school abduction. Abdulrazak Umar further pleaded guilty to additional counts bordering on providing terrorist training, passing operational instructions and inciting members of the terrorist group through a particular religious ideology.
The charge sheet alleged that the defendants, all natives of Niger State, knowingly withheld information about terrorist activities, participated in kidnapping operations and used a messaging platform to facilitate terrorist training and communication.
After considering the guilty pleas, submissions from both the prosecution and defence, and the gravity of the offences, Justice Salim Ibrahim sentenced the three convicts to life imprisonment. The court ordered that the sentences take effect from the date of their arrest.
