Tag: Tukur Mamu

  • Court Denies Alleged Terrorists Negotiator, Tukur Mamu Bail

    Court Denies Alleged Terrorists Negotiator, Tukur Mamu Bail

    A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Thursday, April 27, rejected the bail application of suspected terrorists’ negotiator, Tukur Mamu.

    Justice Inyang Ekwo who ruled on the case, held that the application was without merit and that the applicant failed to provide sufficient materials to move the court to exercise its description in his favour.

    The Judge said he would have to consider other issues before taking a decision on the defendant’s claim of the Department of State Services being unable to address his health challenges.

    According to him, where the custodian lacked the medical facility to take care of the medical condition of the defendant, but is capable of ensuring that the defendant has access to medical facility suitable for his medical condition, the court would not grant the bail.

    He said where the defendant willfully rejects the medical facility given to him by his custodian merely for the fact that such facility is not up to the standard that he expects, then, he has no good medical grounds for application for bail.

    Ekwo noted that the defendant must understand that his medical care is at the expense of the state and must be reasonable in his demands. He also pointed out that the evidence before the court shows that after Mamu declined the DSS medical services, he was taken to Arewa Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Center, Jabi by the security outfit.

    The Judge insisted that the hospitals are sufficiently capable of handling the medical condition of the defendant and that it was able and willing to take responsibility for the treatment of Mamu. It was also stated that the DSS ensured that Mamu had access to his daily medication for the management of his pre-existing health condition as well as ensuring access to adequate tests and treatments when necessary.

    He further averred that in exercising his discretion on the application for bail on allegations contained in a charge sheet punishable with imprisonment for a term exceeding three years, “the discretion of the court to grant bail will not be exercised in favour of the defendant where any of the conditions in Section 162 of the ACJA 2015 is established.”

    Ekwo then concluded by saying that considering the nature of the offence on the charge sheet and the fact that Mamu did not rebut an allegation of breach of terms of bail, he was persuaded by the grounds given by the DSS for the court not to exercise discretion to grant bail as prayed by Mamu.

  • Mamu’s Arrest Won’t Hinder Our Efforts To Release Remaining Train Victims

    Mamu’s Arrest Won’t Hinder Our Efforts To Release Remaining Train Victims

    The federal government has said the arrest of the publisher Desert Herald, Tukur Mamu, will not hinder efforts to release of the victims of Kaduna train attack.

    The Minister of Police Affairs, Mohammed Maigari Dingiyadi, said this after the NSC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Thursday.

    The embattled bandits’ negotiator was arrested Wednesday September 7, 2022, in Egypt on the orders of the federal government and brought back to Nigeria where he was arrested by the DSS.

    The minister said that there is no cause for alarm since there are other negotiators involved with the kidnappers.
    Twenty-three of victims of the AK9 train attack are still in captivity 186 days after their abduction.
    More than 60 passengers were abducted when terrorists attacked the train conveying them from Abuja to Kaduna.

    Most of the freed passengers paid N100 million ransom allegedly facilitated by Mamu.

    Daily Trust gathered that since Mamu’s arrest, the remaining train victims have not communicated with their family members.

    Mohammed Sabiu Barau whose younger brother, a Corps member, is still in captivity told Daily Trust that they had left everything in God’s hand

    According to him, as a family, they are always hoping to see the day he will be released and return home.

    “We are in trauma every day but as Muslims, we are optimistic about the future. We are still praying for Allah’s intervention. Every day, we are hoping to see him return home but we have not heard from him for now.

    “But what we heard recently was that the committee set up by the government to look at the situation is doing something about it so we are hoping for the best,” he said.

  • Tukur Mamu Part of International Terrorist Network, Threat to Nigeria – DSS

    Tukur Mamu Part of International Terrorist Network, Threat to Nigeria – DSS

    The Department of State Services (DSS) has accused Tukur Mamu, the Kaduna train attack negotiator, of aiding and abetting acts of terrorism.

    This was made known in an affidavit in support of an ex-parte motion marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1617/2022 and filed before Justice Nkeonye Maha of the Federal High Court in Abuja.

    Justice Maha had issued a ruling on the ex-parte motion moved by counsel to the DSS, Ahmed Magaji, granting the security agency permission to detain Mamu for 60 more days pending the conclusion of its investigation.

    The security agency alleged that Mamu, the publisher of Desert Herald, was involved in the funding of international and local terrorism.

    It claimed that Mamu shares information with terrorist groups, resulting in the escalation of bandit attacks in the country.

    “Preliminary investigation so far established, amongst others, the offences of the logistic supplier, aiding and abetting acts of terrorism, as well as terrorism financing against him,” the DSS was said to have written in the affidavit.

    “That the defendant (Mamu) has used the cover of his profession as a journalist to aid both local and international terrorist groups. That the action of the defendant has orchestrated the untimely death of several security personnel in north-central and north-eastern parts of Nigeria.

    “That the defendant has discreetly given several information to bandits and terrorists that escalated various acts of terrorism in Nigeria. That the investigation has assumed a wider dimension and sophistication requiring time and advanced expertise to conclude.

    “That some of the suspects working with the defendant are at large and premature release of the defendant will jeopardise the ongoing investigation. That it is in the interest of justice and national security to grant this application.

    “That the activities of the defendant and his associates at large constitute a potent threat to the unity and peaceful co-existence of Nigeria.”

    Mamu was arrested at the Kano International Airport after he returned from Egypt where he had been detained on his way to Saudi Arabia for lesser hajj.

    The DSS further alleged that Mamu, who negotiated between terrorists and families of kidnap victims, was part of an international terrorist network and used the cover of journalism to perpetrate his deeds.

    It claimed that he was on his way to an international terrorist summit when he was intercepted in Egypt.

    The DSS, in the application, had sought “an order enabling the State Security Service/applicant to detain the respondent (Mamu) for a period of 60 days in the first instance, pending the conclusion of investigation.”

    In the affidavit in support of the ex-parte motion deposed to by Hamza Pandogari, a legal officer with the DSS, he said it was necessary for Mamu to be detained for 60 days in the first instance, pending the conclusion of the investigation of various acts of terrorism against him.

    Pandogari alleged that Mamu, “The self-acclaimed Kaduna train negotiator exploited the opportunity to perpetrate, aid, and abet, as well as render support to both local and international terrorist organisations.

    “That upon his interception and subsequent repatriation back to Nigeria, a duly signed search warrant was executed in his residence.

    “That upon his interception and subsequent repatriation back to Nigeria, a duly signed search warrant was executed in his residence and office at No. 4, Ali Ladan Street, Sabon Kawo GRA and No. 14, Mamona Road, Anguwan Sarki, Kaduna State and various exhibits and items to establish his complicity with terrorists were recovered.”

    The agency listed some of the items recovered from Manu’s residence and office to include $151 dollars, £20, 1,530 Indian rupees; one Saudi riyal; 70 dirhams; N 1,506,000, and 16 assorted foreign coins.

    The DSS also alleged that two packs of pump action cartridges; 16 ATM (Auto-Mated Machine) cards from both local and foreign banks; seven cheque books of different banks, six laptops, four tablets, 24 handsets, and three international passports, belonging to Mamu, as well as one firearm licence, eight pieces of Nigerian Army uniforms; 16 pieces of Nigerian Navy uniforms, were among the items recovered.

    “That the defendant has discreetly given several information to bandits and terrorists that escalated various acts of terrorism in Nigeria,” it said. “That the investigation has assumed a wider dimension and sophistication requiring time and advanced expertise to conclude.

    “That some of the suspects working with the defendant are at large and premature release of the defendant will jeopardise the ongoing investigation. That it is in the interest of justice and national security to grant this application. That the activities of the defendant and his associates at large constitute a potent threat to the unity and peaceful co-existence of Nigeria.”

  • DSS to keep Tukur Mamu for 60 more Days After Court Ruling

    DSS to keep Tukur Mamu for 60 more Days After Court Ruling

    A Federal High Court in Abuja, on Tuesday, granted a prayer by the Department of State Services (DSS) to detain the former terrorists’ negotiator, Tukur Mamu, for 60 more days.

    Justice Nkeonye Maha, in a short ruling on the ex-parte motion moved by counsel for the DSS, Ahmed Magaji, granted the motion as prayed.

    The security outfit, in the motion dated and filed September 12, had urged the court to grant its reliefs to enable it conclude its investigation on Mamu, who had been leading the negotiation with the terrorists for the release of the Abuja-Kaduna train passengers kidnaped in March.

    Mamu was, on September 6, arrested in Cairo, capital of Egypt, with his family members by foreign security agents.

    Mamu, who was on his way to Saudi Arabia for lesser Hajj, was detained at Cairo International Airport before being repatriated back to Nigeria.

  • Keeping Mamu in Detention is Terrorism, Charge him to Court – Gumi to DSS

    Keeping Mamu in Detention is Terrorism, Charge him to Court – Gumi to DSS

    Ahmad Gumi, a Kaduna-based Islamic scholar, has asked the Department of State Services (DSS) to either charge Tukur Mamu, publisher of Desert Herald, to a court or release him from detention.

    Mamu, an aide to Ahmad Gumi, a popular Islamic cleric, negotiated the release of persons abducted on a train to Kaduna in March 2022.

    According to Daily Trust, Gumi said this during his weekly preaching at Sultan Bello Mosque on Saturday.

    The cleric implored the secret service to take the publisher to court to face trial, adding that keeping him in custody is intimidating to his family.

    “Take him to court to face trial. Keeping him in custody despite being a family man was just to intimidate him. This intimidation is also terrorism. Arresting people unjustly is also terrorism; just like the terrorists do by going to somebody’s house to kidnap him,” Daily Trust quoted Gumi as saying.

    “How can we continue in this situation under a government that is about to wind up? Our hope is for them to finish successfully not in a bad light. It’s not about Tukur Mamu, you all know that whenever they arrest innocent people, I always talk, not to talk of someone that I know and I’m only advising the government to release him so that we can apologize to him to forget what happened.”

    On Wednesday, Mamu was arrested at the Kano international airport after he returned from Egypt, where he was detained on his way to Saudi Arabia for lesser hajj.

    On Thursday, the DSS said security operatives found incriminating materials like military accoutrements and large amounts of different currencies in Mamu’s house and office.

    In a statement published in Desert Herald, his family said the military accoutrements belong to Mamu’s nephew, who passed out from the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) in 2019.

  • N2b Ransom Racketeering: DSS Raids Terrorists’ Negotiator’s Residence, Seizes Laptops, Documents

    N2b Ransom Racketeering: DSS Raids Terrorists’ Negotiator’s Residence, Seizes Laptops, Documents

    Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) invaded the Kaduna residence of arrested terrorists’ negotiator, Tukur Mamu, in the early hours of Thursday.

    The operatives came in about 20 vehicles in what a witness described as a commando-styled operation.

    “They ransacked the house and carted away documents, phones and laptops. Those in the house were ordered to sign a document which they did not read before the officers took it back,” the witness said.

    It was gathered that after raiding his house, they also went to his office in Kaduna.

    Freed victims of the Abuja-Kaduna train attack converged on Mamu’s office before reuniting with their families.

    Security sources said Mamu was arrested for his alleged involvement in collecting ransom and taking same to terrorists in exchange for kidnapped victims.

    Mamu was arrested at Malam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano on Wednesday afternoon.

    The Kaduna-based published who was first arrested in Egypt was detained for 24 hours before he was flown back to Nigeria.

    It was observed that while the Egypt Air aircraft, which conveyed him and his family members, touched down in Kano around 1:55pm, he was immediately picked up.

    DSS operatives were stationed at the entrance of the international wing of the airport several minutes before the aircraft landed.

    Heavily armed operatives who were also in company of others dressed in mufti, were on guard at the entrance of the arrival section of the international wing of the airport where three vehicles – two hilux and one hiace- with Kano number plates parked by the entrance.

    As passengers began to file out from the arrival section, one of the hilux moved forward while the luggage, presumably of Mamu and his family members. The luggage were loaded in one of the vehicles while the one which picked Mamu zoomed off.

    In a statement, DSS Spokesman, Peter Afunanya, confirmed Mamu’s arrest, saying the agency was grilling him over security issues.

    “The Department of State Services (DSS) has been inundated with enquires in respect of the arrest or otherwise of Tukur Mamu, the self-acclaimed Kaduna Train hostage negotiator. This is to confirm that Manu, as a person of interest, was intercepted by Nigeria’s foreign partners at Cairo, Egypt on 6th September, 2022 while on his way to Saudi Arabia.

    “He has since been returned to the country, today, 7th September, 2022 and taken into the Service’s custody. The act followed a request by Nigeria’s Military, Law Enforcement and Intelligence Community to their foreign partners to bring back Mamu to the country to answer critical questions on ongoing investigations relating to some security matters in parts of the country. The public may wish to note that the law will appropriately take its course.”

  • Main Reason We Arrested Train Hostage Negotiator, Tukur Mamu – DSS

    Main Reason We Arrested Train Hostage Negotiator, Tukur Mamu – DSS

    The Department of State Services (DSS) has confirmed that Malam Tukur Mamu, former negotiator of victims kidnapped from a Kaduna-bound train March, is in custody.

    Recall we had earlier reported how Mamu was arrested at Malam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano on Wednesday afternoon.

    The Kaduna-based published who was first arrested in Egypt was detained for 24 hours before he was flown back to Nigeria.

    Reports have it that while the Egypt Air aircraft, which conveyed him and his family members, touched down in Kano around 1:55pm, he was immediately picked up.

    DSS operatives were stationed at the entrance of the international wing of the airport several minutes before the aircraft landed.

    Heavily armed operatives who were also in company of others dressed in mufti, were on guard at the entrance of the arrival section of the international wing of the airport where three vehicles – two hilux and one hiace- with Kano number plates parked by the entrance.

    As passengers began to file out from the arrival section, one of the hilux moved forward while the luggage, presumably of Mamu and his family members. The luggage were loaded in one of the vehicles while the one which picked Mamu zoomed off.

    In a statement, DSS Spokesman, Peter Afunanya, confirmed Mamu’s arrest, saying the agency was grilling him over security issues.

    “The Department of State Services (DSS) has been inundated with enquires in respect of the arrest or otherwise of Tukur Mamu, the self-acclaimed Kaduna Train hostage negotiator. This is to confirm that Manu, as a person of interest, was intercepted by Nigeria’s foreign partners at Cairo, Egypt on 6th September, 2022 while on his way to Saudi Arabia.

    “He has since been returned to the country, today, 7th September, 2022 and taken into the Service’s custody. The act followed a request by Nigeria’s Military, Law Enforcement and Intelligence Community to their foreign partners to bring back Mamu to the country to answer critical questions on ongoing investigations relating to some security matters in parts of the country. The public may wish to note that the law will appropriately take its course.”

  • BREAKING: DSS Arrests Kaduna Train Hostages’ Negotiator, Tukur Mamu In Kano

    BREAKING: DSS Arrests Kaduna Train Hostages’ Negotiator, Tukur Mamu In Kano

    Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) have picked up Malam Tukur Mamu at Malam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano.

    According to earlier reports stating how Mamu was arrested in Cario, capital of Egypt, and flown back to Nigeria.

    The former negotiator between the terrorists who abducted train passengers in Abuja and victims’ families, had said he was headed for Saudi Arabia when he was arrested and detained in Egypt for 24 hours.

    Some Observers observed that while the Egypt Air aircraft, which conveyed him and his family members, touched down in Kano around 1:55pm.

    DSS operatives were stationed at the entrance of the international wing of the airport several minutes before the aircraft landed.

    It was observed that the heavily armed operatives who were also in company of others dressed in mufti, were on guard at the entrance of the arrival section of the international wing while the three vehicles with Kano plate numbers (two hilux and one hiace) packed by the entrance.

    Soon as passengers began to come out from the arrival section, one of the hilux moved forward while luggages, presumably of Mamu and his family members were loaded in one of the other two vehicles.

    It was later observed that the two vehicles later moved forward and the hiace bus moved into the tarmac area before later zooming off together with the other two.

    Mamu and his family were conveyed in the hiace bus after they were apprehended by entrance of the aircraft.

    A brother to the embattled negotiator confirmed that Mamu and his family had indeed been arrested and were being taken to Abuja.