Oyo school kidnap survivor testifies on terrorists’ invasion as suspects’ trial begins

One of the rescued victims of the May mass school kidnap in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State testified before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday, reliving the invasion of their school by the abductors which marked the beginning of a 56-day-long ordeal in captivity.

The teacher, code-named AAA as part of a witness protection measure, testified as the first prosecution witness as the Nigerian government opened the trial of five men linked to the Ansarul terrorists organisation accused of orchestrating the kidnap.

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, while the other surviving victims were rescued on 10 July.

On 29 July, the Nigerian government arraigned the five men, who were previously convicted for terrorism earlier this year, in connection with the kidnap.

The five received life sentences for terrorism in two judgements handed down by the Federal High Court in Abuja.

They include Mahmud Usman Muhammad (also known as Abu Bara’a and Abbas Mukhtar),and Abubakar Abbas (also known as Isah Adam, Mahmud al-Nigeri and Malam Mamuda). The State Security Service (SSS) said Mr Muhammad was a self-proclaimed Emir of Ansaru, while Mr Abbas described himself as the group’s deputy and chief of staff.

The remaining defendants are Abdulrazak Umar (also known as Abu Khalifa and Abu Khalid), Yunusa Musa (also known as Yunusa bin Musa), and Shamsu Adamu Sani (also known as Abu Itisar).

They were alleged to be members of the Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan (Ansarul) terrorist group.

They pleaded not guilty to the charges before trial judge Salim Ibrahim.

Led in evidence by the prosecution lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), witness AAA told the court on Thursday 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 mainly spoke in Hausa, said few of them could speak Yoruba.

“Some of them are Kogi boys,” she said.

Re-arraignment

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the men were re-arraigned on Thursday on seven charges before trial judge, Mr Ibrahim.

The prosecution lawyer, Mr Oyedepo, said he would open the case against the defendants in line with Section 273 of the Criminal Justice Act following the defendants’ not-guilty pleas.

Mr Oyedepo, the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, said that due to the sensitive nature of the matter, the prosecution would apply for witness protection.

“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, 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.

The judge, Mr Ibrahim, granted the applications from both the prosecution and the defence lawyers.

Background

The Nigerian government arraigned the five men in July, two of whom were convicted Ansarul commanders. The three other defendants were also convicted and jailed for their connection with terrorism.

The five men were arraigned before Judge Ibrahim on 29 July on pre-existing charges and four fresh ones covering the impact of the defendants’ alleged terror activities nationwide.

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This came after the SSS expressed dissatisfaction with the life sentence earlier imposed on each of the five defendants in two separate terrorism cases.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Judge Emeka Nwite sentenced Messrs Muhammad and Abbas to life imprisonment on 20 July, after they pleaded guilty to 32 charges brought by the SSS. 

Three days later, Judge Ibrahim sentenced the three other newly charged defendants – Messrs Umar, Musa and Sani – to life imprisonment after they pleaded guilty to six of out 10 terrorism charges, including allegations of their complicity in the abduction of pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State in May this year.

The three men were to proceed to full trial on the four remaining charges before the prosecution re-filed an amended version of the indictment, adding six counts and bringing in the two jailed Ansarul leaders as co-defendants.

The prosecution opened trial of all five defendants on Thursday regarding amended seven charges.

In the wake of the court’s verdict, the SSS rejected the life imprisonment imposed on the convicts, saying the penalty was not commensurate with the gravity of their offences. It vowed to appeal against the judgement and push for the death penalty.