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Court sentences 3 men to death for kidnapping catholic priests in Adamawa
Adamawa State High Court has sentenced three individuals to death after they abducted two Catholic priests in February 2025, making the total tally of death sentences passed this year by the Department of State Services (DSS) seven.
The three convicted men, Taledo Demiel, Namomai Medan and Mikaila Yusuf, were handed their sentences Thursday by Justice Christopher Mapeo following their conviction for conspiracy to kidnap, conspiracy to armed robbery, armed robbery, harbouring kidnapped individuals and receiving ransom.
The case involved the abduction of Reverend Fathers Matthew Dutsemi and Abraham Sauman, according to a report by conflict reporter and counterinsurgency expert Zagazola Makama.
The judgment adds to a series of death sentences reportedly secured in different courts across Nigeria in 2026 in cases involving kidnapping, terrorism, armed violence and the killing of civilians.
On May 20, 2026, an Ekiti State High Court sentenced two men, 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 for their involvement in the June 2022 massacre of worshippers at St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.
The four 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, a female arms courier, to death by hanging.
The following day, June 16, a Kogi State High Court sentenced Jibrin Halilu to death by hanging 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, namely Muhammed Yusuf Sallau, Jabbi Ahlaji Yale and Kabiru Muhammed, to death by hanging for terrorism and transporting arms.
More recently, on September 28, 2026, a Sokoto State High Court sentenced Ibrahim Usman, popularly known as Dan Iyali, to death by hanging over his involvement in the killing of three kidnapped persons in the state.
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