By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
ABUJA— The Federal Government has arraigned five persons accused of involvement in the beheading of two teachers who were abducted from schools in Oriire Local Government Area (LGA) of Oyo State.
Among those docked before a vacation judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja were two alleged commanders of the Ansaru terrorist group, Abubakar Abba Mahmuda Abu Bara’a and Abubakar Abbas, aka Mallam Mahmuda Al-Nigeri.
Though the duo were captured by the Department of State Services (DSS) in August 2025, the security agency described the three other defendants as foot soldiers who were complicit in the Oriire school attack.
Justice Salim Ibrahim fixed September 24 for the commencement of trial of the defendants, whom he remanded in the custody of the DSS.
It will be recalled that the court had, on July 23, sentenced three persons to life in prison over their complicity in the kidnapping of students and teachers of a school in Oriire.
Justice Salim Ibrahim convicted and sentenced the defendants, Abdulrazak Umar (a.k.a. Abu Khalifa/Abu Khalid), Yunusa Musa (a.k.a. Yunusa bin Musa), and Shamsu Adamu Sani (a.k.a. Abu Itisar), after they pleaded guilty to some of the allegations the Federal Government levelled against them.
The defendants were arraigned before the court on a 10-count charge that bordered on terrorism, kidnapping, concealment, incitement, and illegal mining.
They admitted that they had concealed information about the masterminds of the school attack.
The defendants also admitted membership of Darul Salam, described as an affiliate of Jamaatu Asarul Muslima Fi Bilandis Sudan (Ansaru), a proscribed terrorist organisation in Nigeria.
While all three defendants pleaded guilty to counts four and six of the charge, only the first defendant, Umar, alias Abu Khalid, admitted guilt on counts seven, eight, nine, and ten, which alleged that he provided training and instructions to terrorists via a WhatsApp group titled “The Oneness of Allah is the Foundation of Peace.”
Umar was also alleged to have engaged in unlawful gold mining activities at streams in the Chaza area of Suleja LGA between 2024 and 2026, contrary to Section 8(b) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act.
However, all the convicts, who insisted they did not physically participate in the Oriire school attack, maintained their innocence on the remaining counts of the charge.
Justice Ibrahim fixed September 16 and 17 for their trial on the remaining counts 1, 2, 3, and 5 of the charge.
The DSS expressed its intention to appeal the judgment on the ground that the court ought to have sentenced the convicts to death.
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