ICYMI: Tukur Mamu took N50m cut from Abuja-Kaduna train attack ransom, DSS witness tells court

An investigator with the Department of State Services (DSS) told a federal high court in Abuja that Tukur Mamu, publisher of Desert Herald newspaper, was allocated N50 million from ransom collected from families of victims of the Abuja–Kaduna train attack in 2022.

Mamu is accused of persuading the terrorists to negotiate ransom directly with families of abducted passengers rather than through the federal government’s committee led by the chief of defence staff, allegedly to secure personal financial benefit.

He was nominated by the terrorists as their negotiator and is alleged to have collected ransom payments on their behalf, confirmed the amounts and facilitated their delivery.

The DSS officer, who testified as the sixth prosecution witness (PW6) on Tuesday, gave evidence before Mohammed Umar, the presiding judge, while being led by the prosecution counsel, David Kaswe. The witness testified from behind a privacy screen for security reasons.

He said the testimony was based on four voice notes extracted from Mamu’s mobile devices after his arrest in Egypt and extradition to Nigeria.

The audio recordings, played in open court, contained telephone conversations between Mamu and members of the terrorist group that abducted dozens of passengers during the March 2022 train attack.

“The first voice note that played was for the defendant (Mamu) fixing a date for delivery of ransom,” the witness said.

“The second voice note that played for five minutes was the voice of Shugaba, the leader of the terrorist group. In the voice note, he was appreciating the defendant’s effort and asked him to remove N50 million for his personal use from a particular tranche of ransom sent to them.”

He added that in another recording, the group’s spokesperson, Baba Adamu, asked Mamu to help procure speakers and a public address system “for their preaching activities”, to which the defendant responded that “he was going to look into their request.”

According to the witness, the terrorists also asked Mamu to teach them how to open a website “for their activities”.

SEARCHES, SEIZURES AND FORENSIC ANALYSIS

The witness said after Mamu was intercepted in Egypt, he contacted his in-law, identified as Mubarak Tinja, and instructed him “to move out all his valuables, comprising cash, cars and other items of value, from his house to a safe location, to avoid detection by security agents.”

The witness said after Mamu’s return to Nigeria, DSS investigators executed a search warrant on his house and office in Kaduna, recovering cash in different currencies, several vehicles and other valuables.

He added that some items had already been moved out “in compliance with his directive to his in law.”

“Investigators later traced and recovered about $300,000 and seven vehicles, including a Toyota Camry (Muscle), Peugeot 5008, Lexus, Mercedes E350 and a Hyundai,” the witness said. Vehicle documents tendered through him were admitted in evidence.

He also testified that Mamu voluntarily handed over his Samsung tablet and two phones, which were analysed by forensic experts.

“He also admitted communicating with the terrorists, using his voice notes,” the witness said, adding that the defendant admitted instructing Mubarak to move valuables from his house.

Mamu also admitted ownership of a pump-action gun recovered from his residence, though investigators found that its licence had expired in December 2021 — nine months before his arrest.

VOICE NOTES, VICTMS’ STATEMENTS ADMITTED 

The prosecution tendered the extracted voice notes stored on compact discs and a flash drive.

Johnson Usman, Mamu’s counsel, reserved his objection until the final written address, and the court admitted the exhibits. The recordings were played in court.

The witness further told the court that two of the abducted victims voluntarily wrote statements narrating their experiences; however, they were unwilling to testify in court “because of fear and trauma”.

Their statements, one in English and the other in Hausa, were admitted as exhibits after no objection from the defence.

The court also admitted eight statements made by Mamu during interrogation, along with video recordings of the sessions.

The prosecution counsel said he would file a formal application for the court to visit the location where items recovered from Mamu’s home and office were kept.

MAMU LIVED ABOVE HIS MEANS

At the resumed session on Wednesday, the witness said findings showed that Mamu “was living way above his means” during the 2022 negotiations with the Kaduna train attackers.

He said investigators discovered “that during the course of the negotiations, the defendant’s lifestyle suddenly changed,” and that he “encouraged the terrorists to negotiate the ransom payment with victims’ families” and “benefitted from the ransom paid by the victims.”

He added that the defendant “provided information to the terrorists on how to create a website”, adding that cash recovered from him “was in excess of the threshold permitted by law”.

The witness also said Mamu was never appointed by the chief of defence staff (CDS) committee and “sidelined” the official team during negotiations.

Asked what he meant by Mamu’s lifestyle changing, PW6 said the defendant sponsored four family members on a trip to Egypt and “bought two flashy cars during the period of the negotiations.”

Under cross-examination, the witness admitted he had never travelled outside Nigeria, had not examined Mamu’s passport and was not aware of any DSS invitation or “wanted” notice issued for the defendant. He also confirmed he did not know Mamu’s net worth.

The judge adjourned the case to January 29, 2026, for continuation of trial.