The trial of eleven suspects accused of killing Arise Television news anchor Somtochukwu Maduagwu and security guard Barnabas Danlami was stalled on Monday after the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) did not bring the defendants to court.
The Federal Capital Territory High Court could not proceed as the suspects, who face nine counts of armed robbery and culpable homicide, were not presented by prison authorities.
During the hearing, prosecution counsel Adama Musa informed the court that the correctional officers claimed they were unaware of the scheduled date. Musa noted that the prosecution had brought four witnesses to court in readiness for the trial.
“We are in court with four witnesses who we went the extra mile to ensure are present; they abandoned their offices and are in court today,” Musa stated.
Trial judge Mohammed Idris adjourned the case to February 10 and urged the witnesses to return on that date.
The defendants—Suleiman Badamosi, Zaradeen Mohammed, Musa Umar, Mashikur Jamil, Suleiman Sani, Abubakar Usman, Shamsu Hassan, Sani Surajo, Hassan Isah, Abubakar Alkamu, and Abdulsalam Saleh—had earlier pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The case relates to a violent armed robbery on September 29, in which about 15 men invaded Unique Apartments, a residential building in the Katampe area of Abuja. During the incident, Maduagwu, popularly known as Sommie, died after reportedly jumping from the building, while Danlami was shot dead.
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