The Department of State Services (DSS) on Thursday began the trial of five suspected Ansaru terrorists after re-arraignment.
The suspected terrorists are Mahmud Muhammad (aka Abu Bara’a, Abbas Mukhtar); Abubakar Abbas (aka Isah Adam, Mallam Mahmuda Al-Nigeri); Abdulrazak Umar (aka Abu Khalifa/Abu Khalid); Yunusa Musa (aka Abu Yunusa Bin Musa), and Shamsu Sani (aka Abu Itisar).
They were alleged to be members of the Jama’‘atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan (ANSARU) terrorist group.
The men were being prosecuted over their alleged involvement in the May 15 abduction of school pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government of Oyo State.
No fewer than 46 persons were abducted, including the school principal, Folawe Alamu, in two schools in the area.
Two of the abducted teachers were subsequently killed by the terrorists.
The defendants, who were re-arraigned on a seven-count charge before Justice Salim Ibrahim of the Federal High Court in Abuja, pleaded not guilty.
The Prosecution Counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, said he would be opening the case against the defendants, having pleaded not guilty to the charge, in line with Section 273 of the Criminal Justice Act.
Oyedepo, who is the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, said due to the sensitive nature of the matter, the prosecution would be applying for protection of its witnesses.
“I urge my lord to invoke the provision of Section 232 of ACJA for witness protection; either to be screened or masked and for names that are in acronyms to be ascribed to them,” he said.
The defendants’ counsel, Mr. Bala Dakum, did not object to the prosecution.
The lawyer, however, applied for the permission of court to enable him to view the witness during cross-examination.
Justice Ibrahim granted the prosecution and the defence lawyers’ applications.
Meanwhile, the 1st prosecution witness (PW-1), who was one of the teachers kidnapped by the Ansaru terrorists during the Oyo school abduction, was called to give her testimony.
Led in evidence by DSS lawyer, the teacher, codenamed “AAA,” told the court that she was in court in respect of the kidnapping in Oriire LGA of Oyo State.
“I am a class teacher in one of the schools.
“On May 15, armed men invaded our schools, carted away students and teachers and took us into the forest and we were there for 56 days,” she said.
When she was asked how it all started, the witness said: “school activities had just started when we heard gunshots.”
She said seven teachers and 39 students were kidnapped.
When the lawyer asked him if the terrorists were friendly during the period of captivity, the witness responded: “Friendly? In what sense sir?”
The witness, who told the court that their abductors majorly spoke in Hausa Language, said few of them could speak Yoruba Language.
“Some of them are Kogi boys,” she said.(NAN
