Department of State Services says it will appeal the life prison sentence handed out to three men arrested for their role in the abduction of school pupils and teachers in the Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
DSS expressed dissatisfaction with the verdict, stating that the sentence is not commensurate with the crimes committed.
DSS stressed that the beheading of two teachers by members of the terrorist organisation involved in the abduction is a capital offence which should attract the death sentence.
Earlier on Thursday, Justice Salim Ibrahim sentenced the men to life imprisonment after they pleaded guilty to belonging to Darul Salam, an affiliate of the Ansaru terrorist organisation; concealing information on the kidnapping; and inciting through religious ideology.
The convicts include Abdulrazak Umar, alias Abu Khalifa/Abu Khalid; Yunusa Musa, alias Yunusa Bin Musa; and Shamsu Adamu Sani, alias Abu Itisar.
Abdulrazak Umar, alias Abu Khalifa/Abu Khalid, pleaded guilty to counts 7, 8, 9 and 10, which bordered on training and passing instructions and inciting terror group members on a particular religious ideology.
They were put on trial by the DSS on a 10-count charge bordering on kidnapping, concealment of information, and terrorism-related offences, contrary to Section 16(1) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
The charges stated that the defendants, all from Niger State, knowingly withheld information about individuals linked to terrorist activities, participated in kidnapping, and used a messaging platform to facilitate terrorist training.
The three defendants were sentenced to life imprisonment on Count 6. Abdulrazak Umar was sentenced to life imprisonment on Count 7; life imprisonment on Count 9 and a life sentence on Count 10.
Last week, a Federal High Court in Abuja handed life sentences to two top commanders of the Ansaru terrorist organization – Mahmud Muhammad Usman (Abu Bara’a) and deputy Mahmud al-Nigeri (Mallam Mamuda).
