Oyo school kidnap survivor shares experience as trial of suspects starts

One of the rescued victims from the school kidnap in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State testified at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday. She recalled how armed men invaded their school, leading to a 56-day nightmare in captivity.

The teacher, referred to as AAA for her safety, was the first witness for the prosecution. The Nigerian government started the trial of five men linked to the Ansarul terrorist group, who are accused of being behind the kidnap.

At least 46 people were taken, including the school principal, Folawe Alamu, from two schools in the area. Two of the abducted teachers were killed by the terrorists. The others were rescued on July 10.

On July 29, the Nigerian government brought the five men to court. They were previously sentenced to life for terrorism earlier this year due to other crimes. The five include Mahmud Usman Muhammad, also known as Abu Bara’a and Abbas Mukhtar, and Abubakar Abbas, known as Isah Adam, Mahmud al-Nigeri, and Malam Mamuda. The State Security Service (SSS) stated that Mr Muhammad claimed to be the Emir of Ansaru, while Mr Abbas said he was the deputy and chief of staff.

The other defendants are Abdulrazak Umar, also known as Abu Khalifa and Abu Khalid, Yunusa Musa, known as Yunusa bin Musa, and Shamsu Adamu Sani, also called Abu Itisar. They are all alleged members of the Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan (Ansarul) terrorist group.

They pleaded not guilty to the charges before Judge Salim Ibrahim. The prosecution lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), led witness AAA in her testimony. She explained that she was in court because of the kidnapping in Oriire LGA, Oyo State.

“I am a class teacher in one of the schools. On May 15, armed men invaded our schools, took away students and teachers, and took us into the forest. We were there for 56 days,” she said.

When 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 if the terrorists were friendly during the time they were held, the witness replied, “Friendly? In what sense sir?” She added that their captors mostly spoke Hausa, and only a few spoke Yoruba. “Some of them are Kogi boys,” she said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the men were re-arraigned on Thursday on seven charges before Judge Ibrahim. The prosecution lawyer, Mr Oyedepo, stated that he would present the case against the defendants according to Section 273 of the Criminal Justice Act since they pleaded not guilty.

Mr Oyedepo, who is also the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, mentioned that due to the sensitive nature of the case, he would ask 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’ lawyer, Bala Dakum, did not object to the prosecution's request. However, he asked the court for permission to see the witness during cross-examination. Judge Ibrahim approved requests from both the prosecution and the defense.

The Nigerian government had brought the five men to court in July, two of whom were already convicted commanders of Ansarul. The other three had also been convicted for their involvement in terrorism.

The five men were arraigned before Judge Ibrahim on July 29 on earlier charges as well as four new ones related to the impact of their alleged terror activities across the country. This happened after the SSS expressed dissatisfaction with the life sentences given to the five defendants in two other terrorism cases.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Judge Emeka Nwite sentenced Muhammad and Abbas to life imprisonment on July 20 after they admitted guilt to 32 charges from the SSS. Three days later, Judge Ibrahim sentenced the other three newly charged defendants, Umar, Musa, and Sani, to life imprisonment after they pleaded guilty to six out of ten terrorism charges, including their role in the abduction in Oriire Local Government Area in May.

The three men were to go to trial on the other four charges when the prosecution filed a new version of the indictment, adding six counts and including the two jailed Ansarul leaders as co-defendants.

The prosecution started the trial for all five defendants on Thursday based on the new seven charges. Following the court's decision, the SSS rejected the life sentences given to the convicts, saying the punishment was not enough for their serious crimes. They plan to appeal the judgement and seek the death penalty.