A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has given a suspected commander of Ansaru, an Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group, Abubakar Abba, up till July 20 to decide on whether or not to plead guilty to the terrorism -related charges against him.
Abubakar Abba a.k.a. Abu Bara, who is standing trial alongside Mahmud Usman (a.k.a. Isah Ada,/Mahmud Al-Nigeri, is being prosecuted by the Department of State Services (DSS) for alleged terrorism crimes.
The case which is before Justice Emeka Nwite which was fixed for continuation of hearing on Thursday, took a dramatic turn when Abba informed the court of his intention to withdraw his earlier ‘not guilty plea’.
However, Abba shortly after conferring with his counsel, Husseina Tukur, told the court that he was still undecided on whether to change his plea or retain the earlier one.
At this point, the prosecuting counsel, Mr David Kaswe, strongly opposed further adjournment, as he argued that the defendant had made a similar request at the last sitting, thus urged the court to proceed with the trial should the defendant fail to make up his mind.
In his short ruling, Justice Nwite held that it was the first time the defendant’s intention to change his plea was formally brought before the court, adding that since the issue was being officially raised on record, the defendant should be given the opportunity to make up his mind.
Accordingly, Justice Nwite adjourned the matter til July 20 for the defendant to decide on whether or not to change his plea or for continuation of hearing.
The defendants were arrested in separate operations between May and July 2025 by the DSS and were later slammed with a 32-count terrorism charge that included; terrorism and terrorism financing, kidnapping for ransom, illegal mining, funding terrorism, fabricating Improvised Explosive Devices (IED), amongst other charges.
The defendants are also being accused of coordinating sleeper cells, attacks, and ties to groups in the Sahel/Maghreb.
On arraignment, Usman pleaded guilty to one-count of illegal mining for funding terrorism/arms and was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, but pleaded not guilty to the remaining 31 counts while Abba pleaded not guilty to all charges.
