Prosecutors said the weapons were intended for one Malam Ahmad, whom they described as a Boko Haram member based in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced five men to 25 years’ imprisonment each for providing logistical and arms support to Boko Haram terrorists operating in Niger State, North-central Nigeria.
Judge Binta Nyako handed down the verdict on Thursday after the convicts pleaded guilty to four charges of terrorism, unlawful possession of firearms, and providing support to a terrorist organisation.
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that the defendants were arraigned before the judge on Thursday.
Before delivering the judgement, the judge gave the prosecution permission to tender a cache of arms and ammunition recovered from the defendants.
The prosecution, led by Rotimi Oyedepo, the Director of Public Prosecutions and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, tendered 15 AK-103 rifles complete with their magazines, and 1,434 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition.
It also submitted a forwarding letter along with the investigation report and the defendants’ statements.
The defence led by Akilahyel Shetima raised no objection, allowing Mrs Nyako to admit the items as exhibits and convict the defendants.
She held that their admissions, alongside evidence before the court, established that they knowingly participated in transporting firearms and supporting individuals linked to terrorist activities.
With the judge’s permission, the defence lawyer pleaded for mercy on behalf of the convicts.
Subsequently, the prosecution applied to forfeit a Volkswagen car, used to transport arms and ammunition, to the federal government.
The judge granted the request and sentenced them to 25 years each on count one.
She also sentenced each of the third defendant – Sani Tukur (also known as Danladi); the fourth defendant – Mubarak Ibrahim; and the fifth defendant – Musa Alhaji Adamu (also known as Gado Banufe) to seven years jail term
She sentenced only the first defendant – Yusuf Muhammad (also known as Bature) – to 25 years’ imprisonment on Count 4.
The judge ordered that the sentences run concurrently, beginning from the date of their arrest. This means all five convicts will serve 25 years, the longest prison sentence each received.
She ordered that the convicts should serve their terms of improvement in a place designated by the Minister of Interior.
Mrs Nyako also ordered that the exhibits recovered from them be forfeited to the federal government.
The prosecution stated in the charges that the convicts committed the offences between 23 and 24 April, when they conspired “to render assistance to a terrorist by agreeing and intentionally playing various roles towards conveying 15 AK-103 rifles and about 1,434 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition from the Diffa region, Republic of Niger, to one Malam Ahmad.”
The prosecution said Mr Ahmad is a member of the Boko Haram terrorist group based in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State.
According to the prosecution, the case traces back to the 21 November 2025 attack on St. Mary’s Catholic School in Papiri, where armed men on motorcycles stormed the school, firing shots and forcing students and teachers into nearby forests.
About 50 students escaped during the attack, but captors took more than 250 others into the Kainji Lake Reserve Forest. They held the students for days before rescuers freed them and reunited them with their families on 24 December 2025.
Following the rescue, the State Security Service (SSS) opened investigations into the attackers and what officials described as the logistics network that supported them. That investigation eventually led to the arrest of the five defendants.
Mr Oyedepo filed the four charges against the five defendants and led the prosecution alongside M. A. Oladunjoye on behalf of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.
Mr Shetima represented the defendants.
According to the indictment, the accused persons conspired between 23 and 24 April 2026 to transport 15 AK-103 rifles and about 1,434 rounds of 7.62mm live ammunition from the Diffa Region of the Republic of Niger into Nigeria.
The Diffa Region, which borders north-eastern Nigeria, has long been identified by security analysts as part of the wider Lake Chad Basin insurgency corridor where Boko Haram and its splinter groups have operated across porous borders between Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
Prosecutors alleged that the weapons were intended for one Malam Ahmad, described as a Boko Haram member based in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State. They further alleged that the defendants facilitated the movement of the weapons and ammunition on his behalf, thereby providing material support for terrorism.
The offences, according to the Federal Government, contravene Sections 13(1) and 26(1) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
One of the counts specifically accused Messrs Bindi, Tukur and Adamu of unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition.
The indictment stated that they were arrested on 24 April, at the Kwangila area along the Kano–Kaduna Expressway in Zaria, Kaduna State, while transporting the weapons.
