By Sunday Ejike Benjamin
One of the suspects in the on-going trial of the six persons alleged to be members of the Boko Haram sect, Shuaibu Abubakar, yesterday told a Federal High Court in Abuja that operatives of the State Security Service (SSS), tortured him into endorsing the “manufactured” statement credited to him.
The trial judge, Justice Bilkisi Aliyu, had on February, 2, 2012 aaordered for a trial-within-a-trial to ascertain the veracity of the allegation of the suspect that he was forced into accepting the statement credited to him by the SSS.
At the resumed hearing of the matter yesterday, Abubakar, while opening his defence on the allegation of torture made against the SSS, further reiterated that he was beaten and forced to thumb-print the statement as his own.
A Senior Investigation Officer, Mr. James Izi who led five other investigators of the SSS, denied the suspect’s allegation that he was tortured and forced to admit the statement as his.
Izi, who is the chairman of the Special Investigation Panel of the SSS on the Suleja blast, told the court that the suspect gave his statement voluntarily; but Abubakar, who was led in cross examination, said: “The prosecutor only asked me what my occupation was and I told them I blast stones and sell fish for a living”.
Meanwhile, the court rejected an attempt by the prosecutor, Mr. Thompson Olatigbe to move an application for the stay of the bail granted the suspects.
The judge held that the action was speculative as no surety had come forward to facilitate the release of the suspects.
She further stated that the application was unnecessary as the pending appeal against the bail could go on without it.
Olatigbe withdrew the application and the matter was adjourned till today on the trial within trial.
It would be recalled that the suspects, Shuaibu Abubakar, Salisu Ahmed, Umar Babagana, Mohammed Ali, Musa Adam and Umar Ibrahim, were arraigned for allegedly committing acts of terrorism by causing the death of sixteen persons at the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Suleja, Niger state through an improvised explosive device (IED) on March 3, 2011.
The accused persons are also alleged to have on the same day committed acts of terrorism by causing the explosion at a political rally in Suleja, Niger state which resulted in the death of three persons.
They are also accused of causing the explosion of an IED on 23rd May, 2011 which resulted in the death of three peace officers in Dakwa village in Bwari Area Council of Abuja.
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