Court sentences Boko Haram member to death by hanging

By Biola Adebayo On Apr 9, 2026

Court , Boko Haram , death, hanging, Adamawa, , — Court sentences Boko Haram member to death by hanging

)The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday sentenced a Boko Haram terrorist, Auwalu Samaila, to death by hanging.

Justice James Omotosho, in a judgment, convicted and sentenced Samaila to death after he pleaded guilty to the six counts preferred against him by the Federal Government.

“It is when somebody is remorseful and seeks forgiveness with God that he can have mercy from him.

“The convict before me is not remorseful despite a lot of atrocities and lives that had gone from his hand.

“May God have mercy on his soul,” the judge said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Federal Government, in the charge marked: FHC/KNJ/CR/122/2026, sued Samaila for terrorism-related offences as the sole defendant.

In count one, Samaila, who hails from Gulak Village, Madagali Local Government Area (LGA) of Adamawa, was alleged to have, between 2012 and 2017, in Sabongari Kyambula Village, Gulak LGA of the confessed to being a member of Boko Haram, a proscribed terrorist organisation.

In counts two and three, he was alleged to have agreed to receive training on terrorist activities from one Sadiqu Adamu (Kare-kare), a Boko Haram member, and a training in weapon handling with AK47 in preparation to commit an act of terrorism under the leadership of Yabana in Izza Boko Haram Camp.

Samaila, in count four, was accused of participating in an attack at Damboa, Borno, between 2012 and 2017, where civilians and military personnel were killed.

He was also alleged to have participated in the attack at Gombi in Adamawa, where scores of the civilian populace were killed.

The convict was equally accused of taking part in the terror attack at Hong in Adamawa, “where the civilian populace were killed.”

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The offence, the prosecution said, was contrary to Section 1(2) of the Terrorism (Prevention Amendment) Act, 2013 and punishable under the same section of the Act.

Samaila pleaded guilty.

The prosecution, led by Jemila Ade, Deputy Director, Public Prosecutions in the Ministry of Justice, tendered Samaila’s confessional statement and was admitted in evidence and marked as an exhibit.

In his confessional statement, Samaila stated that he was used to conveyed female suicide bombers to target locations.

According to him, the first suicide bomber I conveyed was Halima.

“I took her to Muna Garage in Maiduguri,” he said.

He also stated that he participated in attacks in Mubi, Chibok, Damaturu, Michika, and Gulak, among others.

Samaila said it was the Konduga operation where the group fought with the military that led to the amputation of his left leg.

According to him, I was treated by the medical team in Farisu when I got this injury, which led to the cutting of my leg.

Delivering the judgment, the judge sentenced Samaila to death by hanging in counts four, five and six.

The judge also committed the convict to 25 years’ jail term in each of counts one and two, while in count three, he bagged 30 years imprisonment.

Justice Omotosho, in separate judgments on Thursday, also convicted and sentenced two Boko Haram terrorists to life imprisonment after they pleaded guilty to the terrorism offences.

The two convicts are Shura Abdullahi and Abdulrahman Ari.

The judge equally committed Aisami Kadi, Umaru Usman, and Abdulrahman Hassan, who pleaded guilty to the charges, to different jail terms, ranging between 20 and 21 years in the counts preferred against them by the prosecution.(NAN)