A masked witness, identified as Prosecution Witness-D (PW-D) on Thursday, told a Federal High Court in Abuja that he paid N80 million ransom for the release of his mother and sister during the 2022 Abuja-Kaduna train terrorists attack.
The witness testified before Justice Inyang Ekwo in the ongoing trial of Mr Tukur Mamu, the kidnap negotiator, who is facing a 10-count terrorism charge. He said his mother and sister were released alongside two other victims of the attack.
The PW-4 was lead in evidence by the lawyer to the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), David Kaswe.
The witness, also identified simply as “D,” said that he was informed at about 8.30 pm on March 28, 2022, that his mother and sister were on the ill-fated train in which passengers were kidnapped, some killed, some injured and some rescued.
He said that the following morning of the attack, he went to Kaduna Hospital where the injured passengers were taken to but he could not find his mother or sister.
He said two weeks after the train attack, he received a call from the kidnappers, who wanted him to speak with a victim, who turned out to be his sister.
He said he communicated regularly with the abductors for about two weeks before they demanded for N200 million ransom each from victims’ relatives.
He said though some paid, the witness said a month after the ransom was demanded, the kidnappers called him through his sister and gave him names of four journalists through whom negotiation could be done.
The PW-D said four journalists’ names and their phone numbers were given to him. He further stated that he contacted three of the names and they declined. The witness, however, said among the four journalists, only Tukur Mamu volunteered “to take up the responsibility.”
“Two days later, I received a call from my sister and my sister told me that she was in good shape and that I should not get agitated.”
The witness told the court that his sister informed him that the kidnappers said his mother, sister and some others were not their target.
“She said they were victims of circumstances that they were circumstantial victims that they were not the targets. I asked about my late mum and she said they were all doing good,” he said.
He said that while they were struggling to raise the money, one Friday, he received calls from former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, and former Director General, Department of State Service (DSS), Yusuf Bichi.
He said he was asked to see Irabor in Abuja. He said he visited Irabor and told him his plights and the little he knew. He said Irabor instructed him that whatever he discussed with Mamu, he should let him (Irabor) know.
He said Irabor thereafter linked him with a committee set up by the Federal Government to facilitate the release of the kidnapped victims He said the kidnappers stopped communicating with him after he told them that Mamu had accepted “to take up the responsibility.”
“As soon as they contacted Tukur Mamu, they stopped communicating with us. Every information is from Tukur Mamu. We will go to Tukur Mamu and he will tell us they have asked us to pay 100 million each. When the negotiation was going on, we had to link Tukur Mamu with the CDS committee.”
He said that on a fateful day, his sister called him that he should go back to Mamu and negotiate.
The witness said he called Mamu but he told him that he had pencilled his name down and would not discussed with him any longer.
“After some people started getting their loved ones out, it got to a stage that kidnappers were no longer talking with CDS committee.
“It should be noted that Tukur Mamu penciled me as government agent. So he never wants to talk to me.”
The witness said he was handicap and approached his (witness) relation who was once Mamu’s boss and the man obliged and intervened.
He said the ransom was then reduced from N200 million to N150 million, to N100 million before they accepted to take N80 million.
He said that in August 2022 when he brought the N80 million ransom in cash to Mamu in his compound in Kaduna, he asked him to convert it to dollar.
The witness said he did and got a total of 118,750 U.S. dollars .
He said two weeks after, Mamu called him for an additional money to make it up a total of 120,000 dollars.
The witness said he took the money to Mamu on Thursday but he was informed by him that the kidnappers had difficulties due to swampy terrain.
He said after Jumai prayer on Friday, the next day, Mamu called to informed that he had established contact with the kidnappers.
“I drove out from Mamu’s compound on a hired gulf car packed with bread and milk as demanded by the kidnappers.”
He said that after about 20 minutes, he received a call asking him to follow a vehicle in front marked 211 and they went towards Binin Gwari.
He said after the town, they stopped and the kidnappers came and brought his mother and sister and the other two victims.
Under cross examination by the defence counsel Abdul Mohammed SAN, the witness said he took the money he brought and a written note from Mamu to the kidnappers.
The witness said he did not know whether the CDS communicated with Mamu because he was not a member of the committee.
He clarified that a former commissioner negotiated with Mamu. He agreed with the defence counsel that the kidnappers said they needed four journalists that they would pay to do a job for them.
On whether it was the kidnappers that were dictating what should be done, the judge said the court would determine that from the record.
Recall 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.
FG told the court that investigations revealed that the defendant collected an aggregate sum of $420, 000 from families of the victims, as well as N21 million from another set of families of the train attack.
It further alleged that Mamu concealed funds he earned from services he rendered to the terrorist organisation, in his residence in Kaduna State.
It told the court that the defendant had sometime in 2022, in Kaduna State, received ransom payments in the sum of N500, 000 on behalf of the Boko haram terrorist group, from families of the train attack that were held as hostages.
More so, in the charge that was signed by the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), Mr M.B. Abubakar, FG added that the defendant exchanged voice note communications with one Baba Adamu, identified as spokesperson of the Boko Haram, in relation to acts of terrorism.
It maintained that the defendant acted in breach of the Terrorism Prevention, Prohibition Act, 2022. Mamu, however, denied all the allegations.
