BOKO HARAM: FG Urges Court to Reject Varsity Lecturer's Bail Bid

 

The Federal Government called on the Federal High Court in Abuja not to grant bail to a university lecturer and two other suspected Boko Haram members from Kogi State.

Mrs. N.B. Jones-Nebo, the chief state counsel in the Ministry of Justice, said releasing the suspects on bail would be risky for “unsuspecting members of the public.”

The three accused persons, Muhammed Nazeef Yusuf (PhD), Salami Abdullahi (businessman) and Musa Umar (instructor) who were arraigned on an eight counts charge bordering on conspiracy and terrorism on February 10, 2014, Monday, argued the bail applications filed during their arraignment on February 3.

Defence counsels Hassan Liman (SAN), James Ocholi (SAN) and Abdul Mohammed told the court that their clients would not do anything to jeopardize the country’s security or suppress evidence against them.

The counsels argued separately that Section 1(2)(b) of the amended Terrorism Prevention Act, 2013 which prescribed capital punishment for terrorism offences, confers discretion on the judge, adding that there is no prima facie evidence against the accused persons. 

However, the representative of the state insisted that this may endanger the national security particularly, security of people in Kogi State. She reminded of the strong influence the lecturer has on the witnesses, some of whom were his students.

“The prima facie case shows that he (Nazeef) buried weapons underground. So far one AK47 rifle and rounds of ammunition have been discovered,” Mrs. N.B. Jones-Nebo added.

She further informed the court that due to the weight of the evidence against the accused persons, the prosecution intends to protect the identity of the witnesses throughout the trial as provided in the Terrorism Prevention Act. 

The case has been adjourned to February 28 for ruling.