ORIIRE: FG ARRAIGNS TWO ANSARU COMMANDERS, THREE OTHERS OVER FRESH CHARGES OF TERRORISM
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HOTJIST NEWS
The federal government has charged five people who are suspected of being involved in the beheading of two teachers.These teachers were taken from schools in the Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State.
Among those docked before a vacation judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja were two alleged commanders of the Ansaru terrorist group, Abubakar Abba Mahmuda Abu Bara’a and Abubakar Abbas, aka Mallam Mahmuda Al-Nigeri.
Though the two men were caught by the Department of State Services (DSS) in August 2025, the security agency said the other three defendants were just small followers who helped plan the Oriire school attack.
Judge Salim Ibrahim set September 24 for the start of the trial, and he ordered the defendants to be kept in the custody of the DSS.
It’s worth noting that the court had already sentenced three people to life in prison back on July 23 for helping kidnap students and teachers from a school in Oriire.
Judge Salim Ibrahim found the defendants, Abdulrazak Umar (also known as Abu Khalifa or Abu Khalid), Yunusa Musa (also known as Yunusa bin Musa), and Shamsu Adamu Sani (also known as Abu Itisar), guilty after they admitted to some of the charges brought by the federal government.
The defendants were brought before the court on a 10-count charge that included terrorism, kidnapping, hiding information, incitement, and illegal mining.
The defendants also admitted membership of Darul Salam, described as an affiliate of Jamaatu Asarul Muslima Fi Bilandis Sudan (Ansaru), a proscribed terrorist organisation in Nigeria.
While all three defendants pleaded guilty to counts four and six of the charge, only the first defendant, Umar, alias Abu Khalid, admitted guilt on counts seven, eight, nine, and ten, which alleged that he provided training and instructions to terrorists via a WhatsApp group titled “The Oneness of Allah is the Foundation of Peace.”
Umar was also alleged to have engaged in unlawful gold mining activities at streams in the Chaza area of Suleja LGA between 2024 and 2026, contrary to Section 8(b) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act.
However, all the convicts, who insisted they did not physically participate in the Oriire school attack, maintained their innocence on the remaining counts of the charge.
Justice Ibrahim fixed September 16 and 17 for their trial on the remaining counts 1, 2, 3, and 5 of the charge.
The DSS expressed its intention to appeal the judgment on the ground that the court ought to have sentenced the convicts to death.
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