DSS: Legal, procedural issues behind delay in trial of terrorism suspects

The Department of State Services (DSS) says the delay in prosecuting suspects involved in the 2011 bombing of the United Nations (UN) building in Abuja, is due to legal and procedural issues.

Khalid Al-Barnawi, the alleged mastermind who is said to be a top commander of Ansaru, and four others are standing trial before a federal high court on terrorism-related charges.

Al-Barnawi was arrested in Lokoja, Kogi state, in April 2016 — five years after the attack on the UN building that killed more than 20 people and injured over 70.

The co-defendants are Mohammed Bashir Saleh, Umar Mohammed Bello, also known as Datti, Mohammed Salisu, and Yakubu Nuhu, also known as Bello Maishayi.

On September 12, Emeka Nwite, presiding judge, granted accelerated hearing in the trial after the prosecution, through its counsel, Alex Iziyon, moved a motion in that regard.

In a statement on Tuesday, Favour Dozie, deputy director of public relations and strategic communications, explained that “the trial has been delayed for an extended period due to legal and procedural issues, including the suspects being occasionally brought to court without any counsel appearing for them”.

Dozie added that a trial-within-trial was conducted on October 23 and 24, during which videos of the defendants’ confessional statements were played in the courtroom.

DSS GIVES UPDATE ON OTHER TERRORISM CASES

The DSS said it is also prosecuting two suspected leaders of Ansaru.

The two commanders of the Al-Qaeda-linked sect — Mahmud Usman, aka Abu Bara’a/Abbas/Mukhtar, the self-styled Emir of Ansaru, and Mahmud al-Nigeri, a.k.a Malam Mamuda, Bara’s deputy and chief of staff — were arraigned on Thursday, September 11, on a 32-count charge bordering on terrorism.

The case is scheduled to continue on November 19.

The agency added that it is also handling the prosecution of five suspects over the June 5, 2022, attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo state, where over 40 people were killed and more than 100 were injured.

The suspects — Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris, and Momoh Otuho Abubakar — were arraigned on a nine-count terrorism charge and remain in custody following the court’s refusal to grant them bail.

In addition, the DSS is prosecuting suspects linked to the June 13, 2025, Yelwata massacre in Guma LGA of Benue state, where dozens were killed and 107 injured.

The agency said it filed six separate terrorism charges against persons arrested in connection with the attack.

Tosin Ajayi, DSS director-general, said the agency remains committed to ensuring accountability for terror-related crimes.

“The various arrests and trials of terrorism suspects showed that Nigeria’s security agencies have been diligent in dealing with the perpetrators of terror in the country,” he said.  

“The men we are prosecuting are separate from the hundreds of suspects under the military’s protective custody, whose cases are being handled by the office of the attorney-general of the federation. In July last year, 125 of the terrorists were convicted.

“We shall continue to make the suspects accountable for disrupting the peace of our country, in consonance with the rule of law.”