Six individuals were on Wednesday ordered by the Federal High Court in Abuja to be remanded in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) after they were arraigned on a 13-count charge related to alleged terrorism offences.
The court session, which began at about 1:46 pm, saw the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), informing the court that the charge was ready and requesting permission for it to be read to the defendants.
However, proceedings were briefly delayed after the third defendant told the court that his lawyer was unavailable, while counsel representing the sixth defendant stated that his client only understood Arabic and Hausa.
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This prompted the judge to temporarily suspend proceedings in order to provide an interpreter.
When the hearing resumed at about 2:18 pm, all six defendants entered their pleas and pleaded not guilty to all 13 counts preferred against them.
After the arraignment, the prosecution requested that the defendants be remanded in DSS custody and also asked for an accelerated hearing of the case.
The request was largely unopposed by defence counsel, although the lawyer to the first defendant indicated plans to file a bail application.
In his ruling, the trial judge granted the request for accelerated hearing, ordered that the defendants be held in DSS custody but granted them access to their legal representatives, and adjourned the matter to April 27, 2026, for the commencement of trial proceedings.
More details later…