Justice Edward Andow of Kaduna State High Court 12 has ordered the Directorate of Security Services to “immediately” charge Tukur Mamu to Court if any offence was discovered about him regarding his alleged involvement in ransom negotiation on behalf of terrorists.
Mamu, a media consultant to popular Islamic cleric in Kaduna, Ahmed Gumi, was arrested in Cairo, the capital of Egypt on September 6, 2022. The DSS then raided his Kaduna residence and office, claiming that it recovered military uniforms and an amount of money during the raid.
Mamu was at the forefront of negotiations for the release of the Kaduna train captives, and was detained at the Cairo airport.
He was later moved to Nigeria while he was on his way to Saudi Arabia for lesser hajj.
Fielding questions from newsmen shortly after a court session on Monday, the lead Counsel for Mamu, Muhammad Sani Katu (SAN), expressed satisfaction over the court order, and was confident the DSS would abide by the order.
“The matter came up today (Monday), we served the DSS and the Attorney General, and we started the processes. And the Judge gave the order, directing them to charge him to court immediately for any offence, if any, they may have discovered. That is our target. The word used by the Judge is immediately, immediately differs from soon.
“Don’t be surprised if by tomorrow or next or within the week he is being charged to court if there is any offence, but let me come in here by telling you that one must commend the DSS for the manner that they have been handling this matter.
“We have gone to see our client severally, he has some health challenges, but they have been taking care of that. They have taken him to hospital, they made so much payment towards his health. But our position is not about his health, not just about holding him there.
“The law is very clear, the essence of his arrest is the belief that he had committed an offence, and how do you know that he had committed an offence is to commence an investigation. And once you finished the investigation and you did not find him wanting, you release him, and if you find him wanting, the law says don’t keep him in detention, charge him to court. That is just the fundamentals,” he said.
In late November 2022, the DSS withdrew a suit it filed to obtain court’s approval for the detention of Tukur Mamu, the former terrorists’ negotiator, for 60 more days.
The DSS filed the suit against Mr Mamu at the Federal High Court for an order to detain him for 60 days for the purposes of investigations.
At the resumed hearing, DSS’ counsel, A.M. Danlami, told the Judge, Nkeonye Maha, shortly after the matter was called for hearing that his client had decided to withdraw the suit.
Mr Danlami said the case had been overtaken by events.
“My lord, this matter is slated for hearing today. However, the matter has been overtaken by events. We wish to withdraw the suit,” he said.
Following the application, Ms Maha struck out the suit.
“Application of the learned counsel succeeds. The application is hereby struck out having been withdrawn,” she ruled.
The DSS had, through its lawyer, Ahmed Magaji, on 13 September, moved a motion ex-parte, which sought an order of the court to detain Mr Mamu for 60 more days in the first instance, pending the conclusion of investigations.
It urged the court to grant the remand order to enable it to conclude its investigation on Mr Mamu, who had been leading the negotiation with the terrorists for the release of the Abuja-Kaduna train passengers kidnapped on 28 March.