DSS Secures Death Sentence Against ‘Dan Iyali’ Over Sokoto Killings

The Department of State Services (DSS) has secured a death sentence against Ibrahim Usman, also known as Dan Iyali, over his alleged involvement in the kidnapping and killing of three persons in Sokoto State.

Usman was convicted after facing a four-count charge before the High Court of Justice of Sokoto State, sitting in the Sokoto Judicial Division.

Naija News reports that the charges filed against him bordered on criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, culpable homicide punishable with death, and voluntarily causing grievous hurt without provocation.

The DSS said the offences were linked to the kidnapping and subsequent killing of three persons in Sokoto State in September 2023.

Usman was prosecuted alongside other suspects who are currently at large.

The latest conviction comes months after the DSS secured the death sentence of three other men, including a Nigerien national, over terrorism and arms proliferation charges in Sokoto State.

The three convicts – Yusuf Muhammad, also known as Sallau, a Nigerien; Jabbi Alhaji Yalle; and Kabiru Muhammad, were sentenced to death by hanging in June 2026 by the High Court of Justice, Sokoto.

They were convicted after being apprehended by the DSS Counter Terrorism Unit in June 2025 in connection with alleged cross-border criminal activities involving arms trafficking and terrorism.