The Department of State Services has obtained a death sentence against notorious kidnapper Ibrahim Usman, widely recognized as Dan Iyali, following his involvement in the abduction and murder of three individuals in Sokoto State in September 2023.
Usman appeared before the High Court of Justice of Sokoto State, sitting in the Sokoto Judicial Division, where he was prosecuted on a four-count charge. His accomplices remain at large. The charges filed against him included criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, culpable homicide punishable by death, and voluntarily causing severe bodily harm without provocation.
This verdict comes shortly after another major conviction obtained by the DSS in Sokoto State, where three individuals, including a Nigerien citizen, received death sentences over charges related to terrorism and illegal firearms distribution.
In that previous case, the High Court of Justice in Sokoto sentenced Yusuf Muhammad (alias Sallau), a Nigerien national, alongside Jabbi Alhaji Yalle and Kabiru Muhammad, to death by hanging in June 2026. The trio had been arrested in June 2025 by the DSS Counter Terrorism Unit for participating in cross-border terrorism and arms smuggling operations.
