Three suspected terrorists accused of abducting 44 pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State are facing life imprisonment after the Federal Government filed a 10-count terrorism charge against them before the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The suspects, Abdulrazak Umar, also known as Abu Khalifa or Abu Khalid, Yunusa Musa, and Shamsu Adamu Sani, also known as Abu Itisar, were charged by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation over their alleged involvement in the May 2026 attack.

According to the charge, the defendants and other suspects still at large allegedly conspired between January and May 2026 to commit acts of terrorism by kidnapping pupils and teachers in Oyo State.

The Federal Government also accused them of participating in terrorist activities by abducting the victims and threatening to kill them unless a ransom was paid. They were further charged with belonging to a proscribed terrorist group, providing material support for terrorism, concealing information relating to terrorist activities, inciting terrorism, engaging in cyber-related offences and carrying out illegal mining to finance terrorist operations.

Under the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act, 2022, the offences attract life imprisonment upon conviction where no death results from the act, while the death penalty applies if the victims are killed. Two teachers abducted during the May 15 attack were later murdered in captivity.

The case is expected to come up before the Federal High Court for the defendants to enter their pleas.

— PUNCH