Three men who kidnapped two Catholic priests were sentenced to death on Thursday (Oct. 22) in northeastern Nigeria for the 2025 abductions, including a member of the priests’ parish.
The Adamawa State High Court of Justice in Yola delivered the sentence to Taledo Demiel, Namomai Medan and Mikaila Yusuf for abducting the Rev. Matthew Dutsemi and the Rev. Abraham Sauman from St. Anne Catholic Church, Gweda-Mallam, Numan County, on Feb. 22, 2025. The priests were held captive for 15 days in Demiel’s house before being rescued by security agents of the Department of State Services (DSS), Nigeria’s intelligence agency, with no ransom paid.
The DSS had arrested the three men as they were about to receive ransom payments, and they were charged with criminal conspiracy to commit kidnapping, armed robbery, harboring kidnapped persons and negotiating ransom for the release of Dutsemi and Sauman.
Demiel was an altar servant in the priests’ church, said the Rev. Moses Idris, a Catholic priest.
“I have always been wondering how the kidnappers got information about priests,” Idris told Christian Daily International-Morning Star News. “It is indeed vivid now that the connection is from within, which is very unfortunate.”
Judge Christopher Dominic Mapeo of the Adamawa State High Court of Justice sentenced the three men after they were convicted of criminal conspiracy to commit kidnapping, armed robbery, harboring kidnapped persons and negotiating ransom for the release of the two priests. They were also sentenced to 14 years for conspiracy to kidnap, 21 years each for armed robbery and 20 years for harboring a kidnapped person.
The parish priest of St. Augustine’s Catholic Church in Sugu, in Adamawa state’s Ganye County, identified only as the Rev. Ebuka, recalled that the priests were rescued on March 8, 2025.
“This case brings us face to face with some difficult questions about crime, justice and human life,” Ebuka said. “A society must be able to protect the innocent, hold people accountable for their actions and reflect seriously on the principles by which it administers justice. Perhaps one of the greatest tragedies is that families can still be forced to negotiate for the safe return of their loved ones. And one of our greatest responsibilities is to work towards a society where such fear becomes increasingly rare.”
The judgment brought to seven the number of death sentences in Nigeria in 2026, security officials told the Premium Times. On May 20, the Ekiti State High Court sentenced Ibrahim Abubakar and Abdullahi Abubakar to death for kidnapping. On June 3, a Federal High Court in Abuja sentenced four men to death by hanging over their involvement in the June 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo state, which killed scores of worshippers.
The Katsina State High Court sentenced Hauwa’u Mukhtar to death on June 15, and Kogi State High Court sentenced Jibrin Halilu to death the following day for kidnapping and murdering his neighbor, Premium Times reported. On June 22, Sokoto State High Court sentenced three men – Muhammed Yusuf Sallau, Jabbi Ahlaji Yale and Kabiru Muhammed – to death for terrorism-related offenses and transporting arms.
On Sept. 28, the Sokoto State High Court sentenced Ibrahim Usman, also known as Dan Iyali, to death over his involvement in the killing of three kidnapped persons.
