Kabiru Sokoto Challenges Life Sentence, Seeks Acquittal

Kabiru Sokoto Challenges Life Sentence, Seeks Acquittal

Convicted terrorist Kabiru Umar, popularly known as Kabiru Sokoto, has approached the Court of Appeal in Abuja seeking to overturn his 2013 conviction and life imprisonment over terrorism-related offences, insisting that he was wrongly convicted.

Court documents filed by his legal team, Don Akaegbu & Company, showed that Umar submitted a motion dated May 13, 2026, asking the appellate court to grant him leave to appeal the judgment delivered by Justice A.F.A. Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on December 20, 2013.

The application, brought pursuant to Sections 6(6)(b) and 36 of the 1999 Constitution, Section 24 of the Court of Appeal Act and Orders 6 Rules 7 and 9 of the Court of Appeal Rules, also sought an extension of time to file his appeal and requested that the already-filed notice of appeal be deemed properly filed and served.

Kabiru Sokoto was convicted on charges linked to alleged facilitation of terrorist acts and failure to disclose information connected to terrorism following investigations into the 2011 Christmas Day bombing of St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, Niger State.

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The deadly attack, claimed by Boko Haram, killed dozens of worshippers and injured many others during Christmas service, triggering nationwide outrage and intensified security operations against insurgents across northern Nigeria.

In the fresh appeal documents, Umar argued that circumstances beyond his control prevented him from challenging the judgment earlier.

According to the filings, he had remained in continuous detention since his conviction and was repeatedly transferred between correctional facilities in different states, making communication with lawyers and family members difficult.

Part of the grounds before the court read, “The Applicant was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment on 20th December, 2013. The Applicant has been continuously incarcerated since then.

“The Applicant was moved across several custodial centres across different States, making access to counsel extremely difficult. The Applicant’s trial counsel initiated steps toward appeal but died before perfecting same.”

The application further disclosed that another lawyer later retained by Umar’s family also died before making significant progress on the matter.

According to an affidavit deposed to by Umar’s nephew, Lawal Suleiman, the family only discovered in March 2026 that the convict had been transferred to the Maximum Security Custodial Centre in Kirikiri, Lagos.

Suleiman claimed that the repeated relocation of Umar across custodial facilities disrupted family contact and worsened the financial burden on relatives in Sokoto State.

He also alleged that Umar’s health condition had deteriorated significantly during his incarceration.

In challenging the conviction, Umar’s lawyers argued that the Federal High Court allegedly relied on provisions of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Establishment Act, 2004, instead of the Terrorism (Prevention) Act, 2011.

According to the defence team, the EFCC Act primarily addresses economic and financial crimes and should not have formed the legal basis for sustaining a terrorism conviction.

The appeal also questioned the admissibility of Umar’s confessional statement, identified during trial as Exhibit KUKS1.

His lawyers alleged that the statement was written by an investigating police officer in a question-and-answer format rather than being voluntarily narrated by the defendant.

The defence further maintained that Umar was not convicted for directly masterminding the 2011 Madalla church bombing but rather for allegedly possessing prior knowledge of the attack and failing to disclose the information to authorities.

“The distinction between direct participation and alleged prior knowledge is significant in law and forms a central issue in the pending appeal,” the legal team stated.

Kabiru Sokoto first gained national attention in January 2012 after escaping from police custody while being escorted to his residence in Abuja for a house search.

The dramatic escape sparked public outrage and led to the dismissal and prosecution of several police officers before he was rearrested weeks later in Taraba State.

During his trial, prosecutors accused him of being a senior Boko Haram operative linked to the Madalla bombing and other terror-related activities.

Despite his life sentence, court filings revealed that Umar obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the National Open University of Nigeria while in custody.

He is now asking the Court of Appeal to nullify the Federal High Court judgment, quash his conviction and acquit him of all charges.

The application has already been served on the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, although no date has been fixed for hearing the appeal.

Kabiru Sokoto Challenges Life Sentence, Seeks Acquittal