DSS says Sokoto court sentenced kidnapping and murder suspect to death

Nigeria’s Department of State Services says it secured a death sentence against Ibrahim Usman, also known as Dan Iyali, in a case involving the kidnapping and killing of three people in Sokoto State. Usman was tried before the High Court of Justice of Sokoto State in the Sokoto Judicial Division. The DSS said the case concerned events in September 2023 and that other suspects charged alongside him remain at large.

The four-count charge included criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, culpable homicide punishable with death, and voluntarily causing grievous hurt without provocation. The source material does not provide the date of the judgment, the identity of the victims, or details of the evidence considered by the court. It also does not state whether Usman intends to appeal the sentence.

The announcement follows another death sentence obtained by the DSS in Sokoto months earlier. In June 2026, the High Court sentenced three men to death by hanging in a case involving terrorism and arms proliferation charges. Those convicts were identified as Yusuf Muhammad, also known as Sallau, a Nigerien national; Jabbi Alhaji Yalle; and Kabiru Muhammad.

The DSS said they had been arrested by its Counter Terrorism Unit in June 2025. According to the agency, that case involved alleged cross-border criminal activity, including arms trafficking and terrorism. The material does not indicate whether the latest judgment is connected to that earlier case beyond both proceedings taking place in Sokoto State.