Just twenty-four hours after a Katsina State High Court sentenced a female arms courier detained by the Department of State Services (DSS) to death, a Kogi State High Court also executed a man who the DSS had successfully prosecuted for kidnapping and killing his neighbor, who owned a hotel in Obajana.
Less than two weeks had passed since a Federal High Court in Abuja sentenced four men detained by the DSS to death for their involvement in the terrorist attack on the St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, on June 5, 2022.
Jibrin Halilu was found guilty on Tuesday of conspiracy and kidnapping in violation of Sections 12, 6 (1), and 4 (3)(a) of the Kogi State Kidnapping and Other Related Offenses Prohibition Law, 2023 by the Kogi Court, which was presided over by Justice Abdul Nicodemus Awulu. Halilu was later given the death penalty by the court.
The prosecution claims that on March 23, 2023, Halilu and other members of his armed gang broke into the Everready Hotel in Angwa-Tiv, Obajana town, and kidnapped Uche Andrew Offo, the owner.
Offo’s family gave his kidnappers the N2.5 million ransom they requested, but they still killed him.
Halilu was taken into custody by Service agents on December 4, 2025, the DSS prosecutor said the court.
“DSS investigations revealed that, while with his abductors, Offo was able to identify Halilu, who happened to be his neighbor, as part of those who kidnapped him,” a security source stated. At that point, Halilu assassinated Offo in spite of the N2.5 million ransom he had obtained from his family.
“Additional DSS investigations also connected Halilu and his gang to the kidnapping of Ibrahim Abdullahi, a resident of Oshokoshoko Community in Lokoja, on April 2, 2023, from whom the gang collected a N5 million ransom.”
Following a historic June 3, 2026, ruling by a Federal High Court in Abuja that sentenced four individuals to death for their roles in the June 5, 2022 terrorist attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, Kogi and Katsina were found guilty and sentenced.
For the attack that killed over forty worshippers and injured over one hundred, the court sentenced Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, and Abdulhaleem Idris to death by hanging.
The source continued, “These convictions mark a significant run of courtroom victories for the DSS, reinforcing the message that those who engage in armed violence, kidnapping, and terrorism will not only be caught but will be prosecuted and made to face the full consequences of their actions.”
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