AfriPulse
A Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed November 19 for the continuation of the trial of Ansaru leaders, Mahmud Usman and Abubakar Abba, charged with terrorism.
Justice Emeka Nwite adjourned the matter on Tuesday after the counsel to the Department of State Services (DSS) was announced to be absent from the court.
In a letter to the court, the lawyer apologised and requested a new date.
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The judge had at the last hearing on September 11 sentenced one of the defendants, Mahmud Usman, to 15 years’ imprisonment for illegal mining.
Usman, also known as Abu Bara’a, who was arraigned by the Department of State Services (DSS) after his recent arrest, pleaded guilty to the charge of illegal mining activities for arms acquisition and kidnapping.
Usman, who hails from Okene Local Government Area of Kogi State, was arrested alongside Abubakar Abba, alias Isah Adam or Mahmud Al-Nigeri from Daura, Katsina State. They were arraigned on 32 charges bordering on terrorism.
Following the plea of guilty to count 10, which is on illegal mining, the trial judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, convicted and sentenced him on the count and ordered his remand in DSS custody pending his trial for 31 other charges preferred against him by the service.
In the charges, the defendants were alleged to have committed acts of terrorism in 2022 by attacking Wawa Cantonment of the Nigerian Army in Kainji, New Bussa, in the Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State, which led to several deaths.
Source: DailyTrust | Read the Full Story…
