The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday sentenced five men to 25 years’ imprisonment each for their roles in a cross-border arms trafficking network that allegedly supplied weapons to Boko Haram-linked operatives in Niger State.
The convicts — Yusuf Muhammad (alias Bature), Goni Ibrahim Bindi (alias Goni Mutuwa), Sani Tukur (alias Danladi), Mubarak Ibrahim, and Musa Alhaji Adamu (alias Gado Banufe) — were jailed after they pleaded guilty to four-count charges bordering on terrorism, unlawful possession of firearms, and providing material support to a terrorist organisation.
Delivering judgment, Justice Binta Nyako held that their guilty pleas, alongside tendered exhibits and investigative reports, clearly established that they knowingly participated in the movement and supply of sophisticated weapons to insurgent elements.
The court ordered that the sentences run concurrently, meaning each of the convicts will serve 25 years in custody from the date of their arrest. It also directed that all exhibits, including a Volkswagen Golf used in transporting the weapons, be forfeited to the Federal Government.
Prosecutors, led by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), told the court that the defendants conspired between April 23 and 24, 2026, to move 15 AK-103 rifles and 1,434 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition from the Diffa Region of the Republic of Niger into Nigeria.
The weapons, according to the prosecution, were concealed in sacks of dried fish and transported in a blue Volkswagen Golf with Niger Republic registration number BT 9990 DA before being intercepted by security operatives in Zaria, Kaduna State.
Investigators said the consignment was intended for one Malam Ahmad, alleged to be a Boko Haram operative based in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State, within Nigeria’s wider insurgency corridor.
Security sources told the court that the case formed part of a broader investigation triggered by the November 21, 2025 attack on St. Mary’s Catholic School, Papiri in Borgu LGA, where armed men abducted over 250 students and staff into the Kainji Lake Reserve Forest.
Although dozens escaped, the victims were held for weeks before being rescued in December 2025.
Authorities said intelligence gathered from that operation led the Department of State Services (DSS) to a logistics network believed to have supplied weapons and operational support to the attackers.
The defendants were arraigned on Thursday and initially pleaded not guilty before later changing their pleas to guilty. The prosecution subsequently tendered 15 AK-103 rifles, ammunition, confessional statements, and investigative documents, all of which were admitted without objection from the defence.
Justice Nyako further held that the actions of the convicts contravened provisions of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, stressing that their conduct amounted to direct assistance to terrorist activities.
She also granted the prosecution’s request for forfeiture of all operational assets used in the crime
The prosecution described the Diffa axis — bordering north-eastern Nigeria — as part of a long-standing insurgency corridor linking Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon, frequently exploited for arms smuggling and militant mobility.
All five convicts were ordered to serve their sentences in a correctional facility designated by the Minister of Interior.
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