Tukur Mamu faces ten terrorism-related charges arising from his relationship with terrorists that carried out last year's attack on a Kaduna-bound train.
The absence of federal government prosecutors on Wednesday stalled the scheduled trial of Tukur Mamu, charged with terrorism-related offences and a suspicious relationship with terrorists that carried out last year's attack on a Kaduna-bound train.
The prosecution was billed to open their case at the Federal High Court in Abuja by
calling their first witnesses on Wednesday. The matter was the third on the list of cases scheduled for the day.
But when it was the turn of the matter, only Mr Mamu's counsel, Obiabo Francis-Amedo, was in court.
The lawyer told the court that he was notified through a letter from the prosecution that the prosecuting counsel in the matter had gone on training and that they suggested a date before vacation.
The judge, Inyang Ekwo, who reiterated that the adjournment was at the instance of the prosecution, fixed 19 July for trial.
Arrest, charges
Mr Mamu has been in the custody of the State Security Service (SSS) for over nine months after his arrest on 6 September 2022, based on his suspicious relationship with the terrorists that carried out the March 2022 train attack along the Abuja-Kaduna railway.
At least eight people died in the attack, while 168 people were declared missing, most of whom were believed to have been kidnapped.
The remaining 23 kidnapped victims only regained their freedom after six months in captivity on 5 October 2022, following the federal government intervention.
Mr Mamu, who is accused of receiving ransom from families of the victims of the train attack on behalf of the terrorists, was arrested by Interpol in Cairo, Egypt, on behalf of the Nigerian government on 6 September 2022.
He was said to be on his way to Saudi Arabia for Lesser Hajj when he was intercepted in Cairo. He was detained at Cairo International Airport before being repatriated to Nigeria.
While being held in Cairo, the SSS raided his Kaduna residence and office. The SSS claimed that it recovered military uniforms and money during the raid.
The defendant, who also doubled as the spokesperson of the Kaduna-based cleric, Ahmad Gumi, was arrested by the SSS on 7 September afternoon at the Aminu Kano International Airport in North-west Nigeria upon his arrival from Egypt.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the SSS, on 21 March, arraigned Mr Mamu on ten counts of terrorism financing, among others.
He was alleged to have, among others, convinced the terrorists to discuss ransom payments with individual families of the hostages of the train attack instead of the Chief of Defense Staff Committee set up by the federal government for his financial gain.
He was said to have been nominated by the terrorists that attacked the Abuja-Kaduna bound train sometime in March 2022, which took scores of persons, hostage.
Mr Mamu allegedly collected ransoms on behalf of the Boko Haram terrorists from families of hostages, confirmed the amount and facilitated the delivery to the terrorists.
He was said to be in possession of large sums of unexplained cash and property that he tried to conceal upon arrest by directing his proxies to change their locations.
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Though Mamu was said to have denied these allegations, witness and victim statements and the investigation by the security outfit were said to have revealed a prima facie case against him.
Mr Mamu pleaded not guilty to the counts and subsequently prayed to the court for bail on the grounds of ill-health. The SSS opposed the bail application.
In April, the court rejected his bail application, extending his detention, which was seven months old at the time, in the custody of SSS.
The judge, Mr Ekwo, said in his ruling that Mr Mamu's grounds of ill-health were not cogent enough to justify granting bail to the defendant facing terrorism-related charges.
'He also cited Mr Mamu's failure to debunk the claims contained in the counter-affidavit filed to oppose his bail application by the SSS, the agency keeping him in custody.
(NAN)
