DSS Secures Death Sentence for Dan Iyali, the Suspect in Sokoto Kidnap, Murder Trial

Linus Aleke in Abuja

Department of State Services (DSS) has secured the conviction and death sentence of Ibrahim Usman, also known as Dan Iyali, for his involvement in the kidnapping and killing of three persons in Sokoto State in September 2023.

Usman was tried on a four-count charge before the Sokoto High Court, sitting in Sokoto, alongside other suspects currently at large.

The charges bordered on criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, culpable homicide punishable by death, and voluntarily causing grievous hurt without provocation.

Delivering judgement, Justice Mohammed Mohammed of the Sokoto High Court held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. Mohammed sentenced Usman to life imprisonment for kidnapping and death by hanging for culpable homicide.

The suspect and his accomplices had invaded Bare Village, Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State, on September 9, 2023, while armed with guns, shooting sporadically and kidnapping several residents, including Ahmad Alhassan, Umar Usman, Adamu Haliru (Naibi), Alhaji Sule Muhammad, and Abdulmalik Muazu.

The prosecution established that the victims were subsequently taken to Marmaro Forest in Giayawa District, where Usman shot three of them — Alhaji Shuaibu Isah (Sarkin Ruwa), Umar Usman and Adamu Haliru (Naibi) — resulting in their deaths.

The suspects also allegedly shot Ahmad Alhassan in the neck and Abdulmalik Muazu in the groin before abandoning them in the forest. They were subsequently rescued by members of a vigilante group.

Security sources revealed that Usman was arrested at Bare Village, Goronyo Local Government Area, in May 2024, after which he was arraigned on charges bordering on criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, and culpable homicide under the relevant provisions of the Sokoto State Penal Code Law 2019.

“The conviction is part of the DSS’s ongoing efforts to investigate and prosecute individuals allegedly involved in kidnapping, terrorism-related violence and other serious security offences across the country,” a source said.