BEVERLY HILLS, March 17, (THEWILL) – Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, to produce 10 army officers for an ongoing criminal prosecution.
The 10 officers were charged alongside the suspected kidnap kingpin, Hamisu Bala, popularly called Wadume, for helping him escape police detention but were not in court.
The soldiers are Tijjani Balarabe, David Isaiah, Ibrahim Mohammed, Bartholomew Obanye, Mohammed Nura, Okorozie Gideon, Markus Michael, Nvenaweimoeimi Akpagra, Abdullahi Adamu, and Ebele Emmanuel.
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Nyako made the order for the soldiers to be produced, after the prosecuting lawyer, Simon Lough, told the court that the army ignored a letter by the police requesting the 10 defendants to be produced for arraignment.
He revealed that the police had written the Chief of Army Staff asking for the soldiers since January 2020 but that they failed to comply.
Ruling on the prosecution’s request, Justice Nyako said, “The Chief of Army Staff or whoever custody the 2nd to the 11th defendants are held, is hereby ordered to produce them on March 30, 2020, for the purpose of arraignment.”
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