The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Wednesday, admitted in evidence a video recording showing the beheading of a church deacon and a schoolteacher abducted from Oriire, Oyo State, and heard that two of the men standing trial are among the terrorists most wanted by the United States and the United Kingdom.
Justice Ibrahim Salim admitted the clip, played in open court and detailing the killings, as Exhibit Oyo 1. A list of demands allegedly served on the Federal Government through the Oyo State Government was also admitted as Exhibit Oyo 2. The list contained the names of 30 members of the group being held in detention facilities across the country.
Both exhibits were tendered by the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), Oyedepo Rotimi, SAN, through a Department of State Services (DSS) operative identified only by the code name “BBB”, during the trial of five alleged members of the Ansaru terrorist organisation on terrorism charges.
The five accused 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).
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The court heard that Abu Bara’a and Al-Nigeri are wanted by the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom for various acts of terror they allegedly committed.
In the video, the alleged terrorists said they resorted to killing the teacher because of the Federal Government’s delay in meeting their demand for the release of their arrested members. The clip was said to have been posted by the group while it held on to its victims in the hope of a swap deal. In a message accompanying the video, the alleged terrorists threatened to kill the captives in their forest camp, including infants, pupils and women.
The name of the second accused, Abubakar Abbas, featured on the list of those the group demanded be released.
Led in evidence by Rotimi, the DSS operative said he was part of the team that investigated the Oriire abduction. He told the court that the terrorists cut the body of the beheaded teacher into pieces to stop the security team from advancing on them. He said the demand for Abubakar Abbas’s release was specifically pursued because he was a commander in the group responsible for the killing of military officers in Nigeria.
Under cross-examination by Bala Dakum, counsel to the accused, the witness said the phones of the captives were used to engage government officials during negotiations. He said Abbas, one of the five men linked to the Oriire school kidnapping, was used as a bargaining chip by the terrorists in negotiations for the release of a woman and her infant in captivity, and that the group threatened to kill all the captives if its demands were not met.
According to the witness, the schoolteacher and Deacon John Olaleye were killed and decapitated after the terrorists accused government negotiators of failing to secure the release of Abbas.
Justice Salim has fixed November 19 and 20 for the continuation of trial.
Crediblenewsng.com
