Suspected killers of sect leader deny charges

Suspected killers of sect leader deny charges
Chukwumerije Aja, Abuja

The five police officers charged with the alleged murder of the leader of the radical Islamic sect, Boko Haram, Mallam Mohammed Yusuf and his followers have denied the charges filed against them.

The officers, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), John G Abang; Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), M. A Akeera; Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), Mohammed Ahmadu; Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Mada Buba and Sergeant Adamu Gado were docked at the Federal High Court Abuja by the federal government on a two-count charge of extrajudicial killing and terrorism which took place on July 30, 2009  in Maiduguri, Borno State.

Charges

According to a fresh charge sheet, the officers are accused of conspiring amongst themselves to kill Yusuf after he was handed over to the Borno State Police Command by soldiers contrary to section 516 of the Criminal Code Act Cap C38, Law of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 and punishable under section 15 1 and 2 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act 2004.

Four of the accused were allowed to go on a bail already granted them by a Federal High Court in Kaduna. Trial judge, Justice Donatus Okorowo remanded the fifth accused person, Sergeant Adamu Gado, who was docked for the first time in the alleged murder trial, to Kuje Prison until July 28, 2011, when his bail application would be heard.

The radical Islamic sect had demanded for the prosecution of the five officers as one of the conditions for the cessation of bombings in northern Nigeria, which has resulted in the death of more than 100 persons.

Iheanacho