An Adamawa State High Court sitting in Yola on Thursday, October 22, 2026, sentenced three men to death after convicting them for the February 2025 kidnapping of two Catholic clerics. ​The convicts, Taledo Demiel, Namomai Medan, and Mikaila Yusuf, were handed the maximum penalty by the presiding judge, Justice Christopher Mapeo.
​Delivering the judgment, Justice Mapeo found all three defendants guilty on a multi-count charge including criminal conspiracy to commit kidnapping, kidnapping, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, armed robbery, harboring a kidnapped person, and negotiating to receive a ransom. ​
The court established that the trio actively participated in the violent abduction of Reverend Father Matthew Dutsemi and Reverend Father Abraham Sauman in February 2025, subsequently holding the clergymen captive while demanding and negotiating ransom payments for their release. ​
In an official statement released on Thursday following the verdict, the Department of State Services (DSS) confirmed its role in investigating and prosecuting the case.
The secret police noted that Thursday’s ruling marks the seventh death sentence the intelligence agency has secured across Nigeria in 2026 as part of an intensified judicial crackdown on armed robbery, terrorism, and high-profile kidnapping cartels operating within the country.
