Rights Group Condemns Court Decision Granting Madalla Church Bomber Kabiru Sokoto Leave to Appeal Life Sentence

ABUJA, NIGERIA – The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has strongly condemned a decision by the Court of Appeal in Abuja to grant convicted terrorist Kabiru Umar, popularly known as Kabiru Sokoto, additional time to appeal his 2013 conviction and life sentence.

The prominent rights group warned that reopening a legal window for the mastermind behind one of Nigeria’s deadliest terror attacks threatens public interest and devalues the lives of terrorism victims.

A Reopened Window for a Convicted Terrorist

The Abuja Judicial Division of the Court of Appeal recently granted Kabiru Sokoto a 21-day extension to file his Notice and Grounds of Appeal against the landmark Federal High Court judgment delivered on December 20, 2013.

While the appellate court has not overturned the conviction or ruled on the merits of the case, HURIWA expressed deep concern that it is a procedural loophole that could ultimately create a pathway for a high-profile terrorism offender to seek release.

Kabiru Sokoto was convicted for his central role in the devastating Christmas Day bombing of St. Theresa’s Catholic Church in Madalla, Niger State, on December 25, 2011. The horrific attack claimed dozens of lives and left scores of ordinary worshippers injured.

Demand for Accountability

In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, HURIWA questioned the timing and public interest implications of the court’s decision.

“Why should a person serving a life sentence arising from a terrorism-related conviction be given another opportunity to challenge the judgment more than a decade after conviction?” Onwubiko asked.

The association is calling on the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Justice, to heavily scrutinize the proceedings.

The rights group argues that if the prosecution finds the existing life sentence inadequate for the gravity of the mass casualty attack, the government must explore every constitutional avenue to seek a stricter review.

Clarifying the Context of Sokoto’s Arrest, HURIWA also used the platform to clarify historical details surrounding the case. Kabiru Sokoto was famously arrested at the Borno State Governor’s Lodge in Abuja during the period when the current Vice President, Kashim Shettima, served as the governor of Borno State.

The rights group explicitly stated that it is not implicating the Vice President in the latest Court of Appeal decision, emphasizing that the reference was strictly providing historical context to highlight the high-profile nature of the case and the critical need for absolute transparency in the administration of justice.

“No Dancing on the Graves of Victims”

Warning against institutional leniency, HURIWA pointed to subsequent tragedies—such as the 2022 massacre at St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State—as painful reminders of the ongoing threat targeting places of worship.

The group warns that any judicial or governmental action that appears to prioritize the procedural rights of convicted terrorists over the rights of their victims weakens public confidence in Nigeria’s counter-terrorism justice system.

“The reopening of a procedural avenue for appeal must not become an occasion for forgetting the victims of the Madalla attack,” the statement read. “The Nigerian justice system must demonstrate that the lives of innocent worshippers matter.”