The office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has taken over the prosecution of Bala Hamisu (aka Wadume), Capt. Tijjani Balarabe and 18 others.
Blueprint reports that the alleged Taraba kidnap kingpin was kept in the police custody after his arrest.
But at the resumed hearing on Wednesday, a lawyer from the Ministry of Justice, Shuaibu Labaran, informed the court that the AGF has taken over the prosecution of the matter.
According to him, the AGF needed time to look at the case file before re-arraigning the defendants, praying the court for a short adjournment.
The adjournment Labaran added was to enable the prosecutors put their house in order.
He said, “The AGF has taken over the prosecution of this case. We have received the file and noticed that there are about 20 defendants from the charge.
” So, there is need for us to review the charge and also liaise with the arresting agency to ensure that all the defendants are brought to court.
“We will do all that is necessary to ensure that justice is done in the matter,”
After listening to the parties, the trial judge, Justice Binta Nyako adjourned the matter to June 8 for re-araignment.
Meanwhile, the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, had filed a 16- count charge bordering on terrorism, murder, kidnapping and illegal arms running against the kidnapping gangs.
Wadume and others were also accused of possessing six AK-47 rifles and dealing in prohibited firearms contrary to Section 27 (1)(a)(I) and (1)(b)(iii) of the Firearms Act 2004.
