Abuja Court Hands Boko Haram Member Death Sentence
A Boko Haram member who travelled abroad for weapons training before joining the deadly 2015 assault on Maiduguri has been sentenced to death by hanging, in the latest in a string of terrorism convictions handed down by the Federal High Court this year.
Justice James Omotosho delivered the judgment in Abuja on Friday, convicting Alkali Yarima, also known as La’ari, on a seven-count charge filed by the Federal Government. The death sentence followed his conviction on count seven, which accused him of committing acts of terrorism by participating in the attacks on Maiduguri, contrary to Section 2(1) of the Terrorism (Prevention Amendment) Act, 2013.
The court handed Yarima a life sentence on count six, after finding that he “engaged in conduct in preparation to commit acts of terrorism when he travelled to an Arab country for training on arms and weapon handling.” That offence falls under Section 21 of the same Act. He was also sentenced to 35 years in prison on count one, 30 years on count five, and 10 years each on counts two, three and four.
According to the charge, marked FHC/KNJ/CR/971/2026, Yarima carried the chest number 1636 and hailed from the Lawanti area of Mafa Local Government Area in Borno State. Prosecutors said he professed membership of the proscribed Boko Haram group between 2009 and 2015, when he was arrested, and had accepted “Da’awah from Mohammed Yusuf,” the group’s founder. Count one is punishable under Section 16(1) of the 2013 Act.
The charge was dated May 26 and filed on May 29 by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN. The trial, originally conducted at Kainji in Niger State, was concluded at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, who led the prosecution team, restated the government’s resolve to end the insurgency. He was quoted as saying, “We will fight with every inch of our blood to ensure that we make Nigeria a safe place for everybody.”
The conviction sits within a wider push to clear the backlog of terrorism cases that has built up since the conflict began. Justice Omotosho has presided over several such judgments in recent months. In April, the same court sentenced another Boko Haram fighter, Auwalu Samaila, to death by hanging after he confessed to ferrying suicide bombers and taking part in attacks in Mubi, Chibok and Michika. In separate proceedings around the same period, the court convicted dozens of defendants, handing down life terms and jail sentences ranging from 20 to 25 years.
The 2015 Maiduguri attacks formed part of one of the bloodiest phases of an insurgency that has reshaped the North East. The conflict, which began in 2009, escalated quickly and peaked around 2014 and 2015. Since then, tens of thousands of people have been killed and more than two million displaced.
The verdict also lands at a moment of renewed alarm. A June 2025 report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs put the number of internally displaced people in the region at 2.9 million, alongside 272,000 refugees. Through 2025, insurgents stepped up assaults on resettled communities, including a September attack on Darul Jamal near Bama that killed more than 60 civilians. In October, fighters briefly seized the border town of Kirawa, forcing more than 5,000 residents to flee into Cameroon.
With prosecutions accelerating, more terrorism judgments are expected as the government works through detainees held over the years.