June 18, 2026
Barely 24 hours after a Katsina State High Court sentenced to death a female arms courier arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS), a High Court of Kogi State has also imposed the death penalty on a man the DSS successfully prosecuted for kidnapping and murdering his neighbour, who ran a hotel in Obajana.
The Katsina and Kogi sentences came less than two weeks after a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, imposed the death penalty on four men arrested by the DSS for their role in the June 5, 2022 terrorist attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.
The Kogi Court, presided by Justice Abdul Nicodemus Awulu, on Tuesday found Jibrin Halilu guilty on the charges of conspiracy and kidnapping, in contravention of Sections 12, 6 (1), and 4 (3)(a) of the Kogi State Kidnapping and Other Related Offences Prohibition Law, 2023. The court subsequently sentenced Halilu to death.
According to the prosecution, on March 23, 2023, Halilu and other members of his armed gang stormed Everready hotel, Angwa-Tiv, in Obajana town,
