The Department of State Services, DSS, has said it will appeal the life jail term handed to three men arrested for their roles in the abduction of school pupils and teachers in the Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
The secret police said it was unhappy with the verdict, saying the sentence was not commensurate with the crimes.
The DSS said 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.
Justice Salim Ibrahim on Thursday 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, it was recalled.
The convicts are 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, relating to training and instructing and encouraging members of a terror group in a particular religious ideology.
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The DSS dragged them to court 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.
According to the charges, the defendants, all of Niger State, knowingly concealed information on persons engaged in terrorist activity, engaged in kidnapping, and provided services through a messaging platform for the purpose of promoting terrorist training.
All three defendants received life sentences on Count 6. Abdulrazak Umar was sentenced to life imprisonment on Count 7, on Count 9 and on Count 10.
Last week, a Federal High Court in Abuja sentenced two senior commanders of the Ansaru terrorist group – Mahmud Muhammad Usman (Abu Bara’a) and his deputy Mahmud al-Nigeri (Mallam Mamuda) – to life in prison.