Three suspects arrested by Nigeria's Department of State Services are facing a ten count charge in connection with the kidnapping of pupils and teachers. The men, named as Abdul Razak Umar, who is also known as Abu Khalifa or Abu Khalid, alongside Yunus Musa and Shamsu Adamu Sani, are accused of offences bordering on terrorism, kidnapping, concealment, incitement and illegal mining. The charge sets out a wide-ranging case built around the security services' investigation.
At the heart of the case is the abduction of schoolchildren and their teachers. According to the charge, the defendants allegedly conspired with three other suspects between January and May of 2026 to carry out the kidnapping of the pupils and teachers. The reference to further suspects points to a broader network that prosecutors say was behind the operation, beyond the three men currently before the court.
Prosecutors allege that the defendants did not act only as direct participants but also helped to shield those behind the plot. They are accused of aiding the operation and of deliberately concealing information about the identities and activities of the alleged masterminds. These offences, according to the prosecution, violate the provisions of the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act of 2022, the main law under which the case is being brought.
The federal government has singled out one of the accused, Umar, for a set of additional allegations. He is accused of processing membership of a group described as Darussalam, which the authorities present as an affiliate of Ansaru, a movement that has been formally proscribed as a terrorist group in Nigeria. That alleged link places him, in the prosecution's account, within the orbit of one of the country's designated extremist networks.
Umar is further accused of providing training and instructions to terrorists and of using a WhatsApp group to incite members to commit terrorist acts. Prosecutors say this conduct runs contrary to both the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act and the Cybercrime Act, reflecting the way the case combines allegations of physical operations with the use of online platforms to spread and coordinate extremist activity.
Beyond the terrorism related counts, the charge also reaches into the area of illegal resource extraction. Umar is accused of engaging in unlawful gold mining in the Chaza area of the Suleja local government area of Niger State, in a period that prosecutors place between 2024 and 2026. The allegation ties the security case to concerns about unregulated mining that has been linked to insecurity in parts of the country.
Taken together, the ten counts stretch from the abduction of pupils and teachers to the concealment of suspected masterminds, from alleged membership of a proscribed group and online incitement to unlawful mining. The case, brought under the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act of 2022 and the Cybercrime Act, now rests with the court, which will weigh the allegations set out by the prosecution against the three defendants.