The Department of State Services will on Thursday re-arraign five suspected members of the Ansaru terrorist group over their alleged involvement in the May 15 abduction of pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
The suspects are also accused of involvement in the subsequent killing of two of the victims.
They will be re-arraigned before Justice Saliu Ibrahim of the Federal High Court in Abuja on a six-count amended charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/438/2026.
The charge was filed by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, on behalf of the Federal Government.
The defendants are Mahmud Muhammad, also known as Abu Bara’a and Abbas Mukhtar; Abubakar Abbas, aka Isah Adam and Mallam Mahmuda Al-Nigeri; Abdulrazak Umar, aka Abu Khalifa and Abu Khalid; Yunusa Musa, aka Abu Yunusa Bin Musa; and Shamsu Adamu Sani, aka Abu Itisar.
The suspects were initially scheduled for arraignment on Wednesday, but proceedings were stalled after the first defendant objected to being represented by a lawyer from the Legal Aid Council.
A Deputy Director of the Legal Aid Council, Akilaluyel Shettima, had announced his appearance for the defendants before the court.
However, Muhammad told the court that the five had previously been represented by lawyer Bala Dakum and wanted him to continue with their defence.
“We had been represented by Bala Dakum as our lawyer before, and we would want him to continue to defend us,” Muhammad told the court.
Oyedepo conceded that the defendants had a constitutional right to counsel of their choice.
He said the DSS was a law-abiding institution and was not interested in persecuting the defendants but in ensuring that justice was done.
Justice Ibrahim subsequently adjourned the case until Thursday for the suspects to be re-arraigned.
The judge directed the defendants to contact Dakum and ensure that he was present in court for the proceedings.
He also ordered the DSS to grant the suspects access to their lawyer to enable them to prepare their defence in accordance with the law.
