Court sentences five suspected bandits to 25 years in prison over Niger church attack, pupil abduction

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has sentenced five persons to 25 years imprisonment each for their involvement in the November 21, 2025 attack on St. Joseph Catholic Church, Papiri in Niger State.

The convicts were arraigned on terrorism-related charges bordering on conspiracy, support for acts of terrorism, and illegal arms trafficking under the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, as well as provisions of the Firearms Act.

The Department of State Services (DSS) had arrested the suspects following investigations into the mass abduction of over 300 students and staff from the church school. While about 50 victims reportedly escaped, over 250 were taken into the Kainji Lake Reserve Forest by the attackers.

During the trial, the defendants pleaded guilty to all charges brought against them. The court subsequently found them guilty and delivered the sentence.

Justice Binta Nyako, who presided over the case, also ordered the forfeiture of a Volkswagen Golf car used in conveying weapons and ammunition to the Nigerian government.

The DSS had earlier recovered 15 AK-47 rifles and 1,434 rounds of live ammunition hidden in sacks inside the vehicle used by the suspects.

The court described the offences as serious acts of terrorism support, stressing the role played by the convicts in supplying arms to a Boko Haram-linked network operating in Niger State.

The judgment marks one of the significant convictions in recent terrorism-related prosecutions in the country.

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