Today, a witness from the Department of State Service (DSS) informed the Federal High Court in Abuja that Tukur Mamu, who is on trial for allegedly funding terrorism, was never hired by the federal government to talk to the terrorists who attacked the Abuja-Kaduna train in 2022.
The Guardian says that the witness, who works for the DSS, said that Tukur ignored the Chief of Defence Staff Committee, which was set up to negotiate the release of people who were kidnapped after the train incident.
DSS lawyer David Kaswe led the witness, whose name was not made public for security reasons, who stated that the defendant “was not required by the government to investigate or negotiate with terrorists in any way, but did so for his own benefit.”
The witness said that the defendant told terrorists to talk to victims about ransom payments, collected money for them, confirmed the sums, and “facilitated payments illegally.”
He further said that the defendant made money from the ransom talks, owned guns illegally, and even told terrorists how to make a website.
He also said that the considerable amount of money found in the defendant’s Kaduna home was more than what the law allowed, and that the defendant’s way of living “changed a lot” throughout the negotiations.
The witness said, “He was arrested in Egypt with four family members, and he bought two fast cars during the time of the negotiation.”
During cross-examination, defense attorney Johnson Usman, SAN, questioned many parts of the DSS investigation.
Usman asked if the DSS, which has agents at all Nigerian airports, checked how the defendant and his family got to Egypt. The witness said he didn’t know the details of their trip but confirmed that the defendant’s passport was in DSS control.
The witness said he was a thorough investigator when asked, but he also said he didn’t open the defendant’s passport throughout the investigation since he worked with a preliminary report.
The defense also asked about irregularities in the course of negotiating. Usman said that the terrorists told the victims to come up with negotiators, and the victims gave them a list of names.
The witness confirmed that the victims gave names, but said that only the defendant (Mamu) volunteered to work with the terrorists and that the defendant was not a member of the CDS committee.
Usman kept asking the witness about hostage releases during the incident. He said that only one hostage had been freed before the defendant became involved.
Justice Mohammed Garba Umar has put off more questioning of the witness until January 29, 2026.
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