A High Court in Kogi State has sentenced a man arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) to death for kidnapping and murdering his neighbour, marking the latest in a series of high-profile convictions secured by Nigerian authorities against terrorism and violent crime suspects.
Justice Abdul Nicodemus Awulu of the Kogi State High Court on Tuesday found Jibrin Halilu guilty of conspiracy and kidnapping under the Kogi State Kidnapping and Other Related Offences Prohibition Law, 2023, and imposed the death penalty.
According to court proceedings, Halilu and members of his gang stormed Ever Ready Hotel in Angwa-Tiv, Obajana, on March 23, 2023, and abducted the proprietor, Uche Andrew Offo. Prosecutors said Offo’s family paid a N2.5 million ransom demanded by the kidnappers, but the victim was subsequently killed.
The prosecution told the court that DSS operatives arrested Halilu on December 4, 2025, following investigations into the crime.
A security source said DSS investigations revealed that Offo had identified Halilu, his neighbour, among the kidnappers while in captivity. Investigators also allegedly linked Halilu and his gang to the April 2023 abduction of Ibrahim Abdullahi in Lokoja, from whose family a N5 million ransom was reportedly collected.
The judgment came barely 24 hours after a High Court in Katsina State reportedly sentenced a female arms courier arrested by the DSS to death, underscoring an intensified judicial response to kidnapping, terrorism and related offences.
The Kogi and Katsina rulings follow a landmark June 3, 2026 judgment by the Federal High Court in Abuja, which sentenced four men to death by hanging for their roles in the June 5, 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State. The attack, one of Nigeria’s deadliest assaults on a place of worship, killed more than 40 worshippers and left over 100 others injured. The court convicted Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik and Abdulhaleem Idris on terrorism-related charges brought by the DSS.
The Owo convictions were widely viewed as a major test of Nigeria’s ability to successfully prosecute terrorism cases amid persistent security challenges, including insurgency, banditry and kidnapping-for-ransom.
Security sources said the recent convictions demonstrate a growing determination by law enforcement and the courts to ensure that perpetrators of terrorism, kidnapping and armed violence are apprehended, prosecuted and punished in accordance with the law.