By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
ABUJA— A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, yesterday, fixed July 22, to hear a fresh bail application by an alleged Abuja-Kaduna train kidnap negotiator, Mr Tukur Mamu, who is facing a 10-count terrorism charge.
Mamu, through his team of lawyers led by Mr Johnson Usman, SAN, is praying the court to order his release from custody of the Department of State Services, DSS, to enable him seek proper medical attention.
The defendant told the court that his health has badly deteriorated while in custody, saying there was urgent need for him to undergo a surgery.
However, his application was opposed by the Federal Government, which urged the court to dismiss it for want of merit.
In a counter-affidavit by the prosecution counsel, Mr David Kaswe, the Federal Government maintained that the defendant posed a flight risk, adding that the court had earlier declined to release him in bail pending the determination of the case.
Insisting that the DSS has a medical facility that is adequate enough to handle the defendant’s health needs, the Federal Government drew the attention of the court to the nature of the charge that is pending against the defendant.
Justice Muhammed Umar adjourned for the parties to argue their processes to enable the court to rule on the application.
The Federal Government had on March 21, 2023, arraigned Mamu for allegedly aiding terrorist operations in the country.
The Kaduna-based Islamic scholar was further accused of collecting various sums of money in different currencies from families of victims of the train attack, on behalf of the Boko Haram terrorists sect.
The Federal Government told the court that investigations revealed that the defendant collected an aggregate sum of $420, 000 from families of the victims, as well as N21million from another set of families of the train attack.
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