Man sentenced to death by handing for role Nyanya bomb blasts

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has sentenced a 37-year-old man, Zakaria Garba, to death by hanging for his role in the deadly 2014 Nyanya Motor Park bomb attack that claimed several lives and left many others injured.

Justice James Omotosho handed down the sentence during the recently concluded mass trial of terrorism suspects in the Federal Capital Territory.

Garba was convicted after pleading guilty to a five-count terrorism-related charge filed against him by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice.

The Nyanya bomb blasts, which occurred on the outskirts of Abuja in April 2014, killed at least 70 people and injured several others, making it one of the deadliest terrorist attacks recorded in the nation’s capital.

Delivering judgment in the case marked FHC/KNJ/CR/985/2026, Justice Omotosho imposed varying penalties on the defendant across the five counts.

The court sentenced Garba to 35 years imprisonment each on counts one and two, life imprisonment on count three, and death by hanging on counts four and five.

Omotosho held that the defendant’s guilty plea and the evidence before the court established his involvement in the attack, which resulted in significant loss of lives and destruction.

The conviction formed part of a broader effort by authorities to prosecute those linked to terrorism-related offences and bring closure to victims of attacks that have plagued parts of the country over the years.