Nigeria: Five Ansaru suspects plead not guilty in Oyo case

The federal prosecution is pursuing them on seven amended charges related to terrorism, kidnapping, aiding the operation, and concealing information. According to the indictment reported by several media outlets present at the hearing, two of the kidnapped individuals were killed.

The five defendants are Mahmud Muhammad, also known as Abu Bara’a and Abbas Mukhtar, Abubakar Abbas, Abdulrazak Umar, Yunusa Musa, and Shamsu Adamu Sani. The case is registered under number FHC/ABJ/CR/438/2026 at the Federal High Court in Abuja. All remain presumed innocent until a final conviction is pronounced.

Rotimi Oyedepo, the Director of Public Prosecutions for the Federation, requested the court to protect the identities of witnesses called to testify and to allow them to testify while masked. The defense did not oppose this, and Judge Salim Ibrahim granted the protection, according to reports from the hearing.

The attack on May 15 targeted three educational institutions in the Esiele community within the Oriire area. The Nigerian presidency had confirmed the kidnapping of students, teachers, and staff, as well as the reported death of a teacher, prior to the deployment of rescue and security teams.

On July 31, President Bola Tinubu stated that the rescue operation conducted in Oriire had been successful.