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Terrorism: DSS resumes prosecution of Ansaru commander Al-Barnawi, four others

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The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has granted an application filed by the Department of State Services, DSS, to expedite proceedings in the trial of the suspected mastermind of the August 26, 2011 bombing of the United Nations building in Abuja, Khalid Al-Barnawi and four others.

The DSS, through its counsel, Alex Iziyon, SAN, had moved the application for accelerated hearing on the ground that the service is prepared to ensure that the case is determined in a timely manner.

In the application, which was not opposed by counsels to the defendants, parties will be allowed to watch video recordings presented by the DSS to prove that the extrajudicial statements made by the defendants was done voluntarily as against the claim of some of the defendants.

Justice Nwite then adjourned the matter until October 23 and October 24 for continuation of the trial-within-trial.

Ekwutosblog reports that Al-Barnawi is being prosecuted on terrorism related charges along with other suspected members of his group.

Other co-defendants include Mohammed Bashir Saleh; Umar Mohammed Bello, a.k.a Datti; Mohammed Salisu and Yakubu Nuhu, a.k.a Bello Maishayi.

 

They are, among others, accused of being members of the Ansaru terrorist group, also known as Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis Sudan.

The defendants are also alleged to have conspired among themselves to carry out acts of terrorism between 2011 and 2013 in Sokoto, Kebbi, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, and other states in the northern part of the country.

He was reported to have claimed that it carried out an attack on a maximum security prison in Abuja in 2012 during which dozens of inmates were freed.

The DSS had, in April 2016, arrested Al-Barnawi in Lokoja in Kogi, five years after the attack on the Abuja UN Building.

Earlier, the United States placed a $5 million (£3.5m) bounty on Al-Barnawi’s head after branding him one of three Nigerian “specially designated global terrorists.”

The attack, the first of such in Nigeria on an international organisation, left over 20 persons dead and over 70 others injured.

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Bianca Ojukwu’s Daughter Joins Her Mother at the ECOWAS Council of Ministers Session in South Africa

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Following a recent post by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu, on her official Instagram account on Monday, 15th December, 2025, the minister shared a noteworthy moment from the ECOWAS 95th Session of the Council of Ministers held in South Africa.

In the post, Ambassador Ojukwu revealed that her daughter, Chi, who works with UN Tourism, accompanied her to the high-level regional meeting to gain firsthand insight into the demands of diplomatic service. According to the minister, the experience offered her daughter a clearer understanding of the intensity and dedication required in her role as Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.

She explained that the council’s deliberations often stretched late into the night, sometimes well past midnight, with long hours spent in the conference hall and sustained by endless cups of tea. The demanding schedule, she noted, was far more intense than her daughter had anticipated

The post has since drawn reactions from followers, many of whom praised Ambassador Ojukwu for mentoring the next generation through exposure to international diplomacy and commended her commitment to regional cooperation and public service within ECOWAS.

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Late Ambassador Demola Seriki’s last wife accuses family of denying her and their children access to his graveside

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All appears not to be well with the family former Nigerian Ambassador to Spain, Late Demola Seriki, left behind. The Lagos politician and former minister passed away on Thursday, December 15, 2022, in Madrid, Spain at the age of 63 leaving behind three wives and his children.

Today marked three years since he passed away.

His last wife, Princess Sholape and her children had visited his graveside to pray for the repose of his soul. Sholape in a video she shared online this evening, said she and her kids were denied access into the vault to offer their prayers for the repose of his soul. According to her, a certain Biola has refused to grant herself and her kids access to the graveside and has instructed that visitation to his grave must be done only by her approval.

Sholape shared a video of herself and her two children at the grave.

‘’The keys for the vault has been seized and we have been refused access to it. Today we speak up and we will get on with things. It’s okay. It doesn’t stop up. We have done our prayers’’

 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DSS3dopDVBM/?igsh=ZDQ1ZTJsYXlobTU3

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Alleged N2.2bn fraud: Ngige to remain in Kuje Prison till December 18

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Justice Maryam Aliyu Hassan of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory sitting at Gwarimpa in Abuja has ordered that former Minister of Labour, Dr Chris Ngige, be kept at Kuje prison till December 18.

Ngige will be on remand till the date when his bail application would be decided by the court.

Justice Hassan issued the order on Monday shortly after taking arguments for and against the bail request of the former governor of Anambra State.

Ngige’s lawyer, Patrick Ikwueto, SAN, pleaded with the judge to admit the former minister to bail, mainly on health ground.

He submitted that the former minister would not jump bail or interfere with witnesses if admitted to bail.

However, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, represented by Sylvanus Tahir, SAN, vehemently opposed the bail request, insisting that Ngige was a flight risk.

Tahir told the judge that Ngige was granted administrative bail by the EFCC and allowed to travel abroad for medical care but never reported back to the Commission.

Besides, he said that the international passport released to Ngige; to facilitate the abroad trip was never returned till today.

The senior lawyer argued that it was when Ngige was re-arrested that he came up with a purported claim that he lost his passport.

He insisted that the claim of passport loss was an afterthought and should not be believed by the court.

After the submissions, Justice Hassan fixed December 18 to deliver ruling in the bail request.

Ngige was last Friday slammed with an eight-count charge bordering on corrupt practices.

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