The Department of State Services (DSS) will, on Thursday, September 17, re-arraign five men accused of complicity in the May 15 abduction of pupils and teachers in the Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State and the subsequent killing of two of the victims.
The suspects will be arraigned on a six-count amended charge filed by the Director of the Public Prosecution of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, on behalf of the Federal Government.
The accused, alleged to be members of the Jama’‘atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan (ANSARU) terrorist group, 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 Adamu Sani (aka Abu Itisar).
Although the suspects were to be in the dock on Wednesday, September 16, their re-arraignment was postponed following the insistence of the accused to be defended by their own lawyers.
At the proceeding, a Deputy Director with the Legal Aid Council, Akilaluyel Shettima, had announced the appearance of the five suspects, but the first accused person, Mahmud Muhammad, objected.
Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, Muhammad told the trial judge, Justice Salim Ibrahim, that they had been represented by one Bala Dakum as their lawyer before and would want him to continue to defend them.
Consequently, the DPPF conceded that the issue of choice of lawyer is a constitutional matter that must be respected and allowed for the accused persons.
Oyedepo told the court that the DSS is a law-abiding institution not interested in persecution of the accused persons but only interested in justice.
Justice Ibrahim, therefore, moved the re-arraignment to September 17.
The judge ordered the accused to contact their lawyer to be in court on September 17 for the re-arraignment to hold.
Justice Ibrahim also requested the DSS to allow the accused persons access to their lawyer to prepare for their defense.
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