The Federal Government has again arraigned Tukur Mamu, the self-styled negotiator during the 2022 Abuja-Kaduna train hostage crisis, on an amended 17-count terrorism charge.
Mamu pleaded not guilty when the fresh charges were read before Justice Mohammed Umar of the Federal High Court, Abuja, on Monday.
The defendant, originally arrested by Egyptian security officials at Cairo International Airport on 7 September 2022, was first arraigned on a ten-count charge bordering on terrorism financing. The prosecution has now amended the counts to include unlawful possession of firearms without a valid licence and money laundering.
When the case resumed, David Kaswe, an Assistant Director at the Federal Ministry of Justice, informed the court that the amended charge, dated and filed on 26 May, had been served on the defence. He requested that the defendant take his plea on the revised counts.
Mamu’s lawyer, Johnson Usman, SAN, did not oppose the application. Justice Umar ordered the charge to be read, and Mamu entered a not-guilty plea. The prosecution then began cross-examining the defendant, who had previously opened his defence on 23 April as the sole defence witness after the government closed its case with seven witnesses.
Among the allegations, the government claims that around 28 March 2022 in Kaduna, Mamu supported Boko Haram by urging the group to boycott the Chief of Defence Staff’s negotiation committee. This, the prosecution argues, was done to position himself as the go-between for ransom payments from hostages’ families.
He is also accused of receiving $120,000 in ransom on behalf of the terrorist group, contrary to the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022. Further counts allege he possessed terrorist funds totalling $269,200, N25,690,500, 1,840 Indian Rupees, 1,700 Egyptian Pounds, and 115 UAE Dirhams.
Counts 14 and 15 involve money laundering of the naira and dollar sums. In counts 16 and 17, Mamu is accused of unlawfully possessing a Delta Magnum pump-action firearm and approximately 47 cartridges without a valid licence, offences under the Fire Arms Act.
Justice Umar adjourned the matter until 8 June for continuation of cross-examination.