A masked witness identified as prosecution witness D on Thursday told a Federal High Court in Abuja that he paid N80m for the release of his Mother and Sister who were victims of 2022 Abuja – Kaduna train terrorists attack .
The witness testified before Justice Inyang Ekwo in the trial Mohammed Tukur Mamu the Abuja-Kaduna train kidnap negotiator, who is facing a 10-count terrorism charge.
Lead in evidence by the prosecution counsel, D.E.Kaswe, PW 4 identified as “D” said that he was informed at about 8.20 pm March 28, 2022 that his mother and sister were passengers in the ill fated train in whose passengers were kidnapped and some injured.
He said that the following morning of the attack he went to Kaduna Hospital where the injured passengers were taken to , but he could not find his mother or sister.
But, that two weeks after the train attack, he received a call from the kidnappers who wanted him to speak with a victim, who turned out to be his sister.
They spoke and maintained the line of communication regularly for two weeks and it stopped after they have demanded for N200m ransom from victims relatives. He said some paid.
The witness said a month after the ransom demand , the kidnappers called him again and informed that if he want to pay or negotiate through any of the four journalists that would do the job. They proceeded and gave him the names of four journalists with their phone numbers.
He further stated that he contacted three of the names and they declined. He added that only Mohammed Tukur Mamu accepted, ” he will take up the responsibility”.
The witness said that while they were struggling to raise money , one Friday , he got calls from former Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Irabor and former Director General Department of State Service,DSS who requested him to see Irabor in Abuja.
He said he visited Irabor and told him his plight and the little he knew . Irabor instructed him that “whatever I discuss with Mamu I should let him know” He thereafter linked him with a committee set up to facilitate the release of the kidnapped victims
He said the kidnappers stopped communicating with him after he told them that Mamu accepted “to take up the responsibility”.
He said that Mamu told him that the kidnappers said his mother, sister and others in their captivity were not their target and that they needed their children for exchange for their lost ones.
The witness said that one fateful day his sister called him that he should go back to Tukur and negotiate. He said he called Tukur but he told him that he had pencilled me down as a security agent and would not discussed with me any longer.
The witness said he was handicap and approached a relation who once was Tukur boss and the man obliged and intervened . He said from N200m ransom , they negotiated and it was reduced to N150m and to N100m before they accepted to take N80m.
He said that in August 2022 when he brought the N80m ransom in cash to Mamu in his compound in Kaduna he asked him to convert it to dollar and did . He got a total of 118,750 US Dollars .
Two weeks after he called for an additional money to make it up a total of 120,000 dollars .
The witness said he took the money to Mamu on Thursday and met two representatives of other victims who came with money but he was informed by Manu that the kidnappers had difficulties due to swampy terrain.
He said after Jumai prayer on Friday, Mamu called to informed that he had established contact with the kidnappers.
“I drove out from Mamu compound on a hired gulf car packed with breads and milks as demanded by the kidnappers.”
He said that after about 20 minutes he received a call asking me to follow a vehicle in front marked 211 and we went towards Binen Gwari, After the town we stopped and the kidnappers came and brought my mother , my sister and two others and we left..
Under cross examination by the defence counsel Abdul Mohammed, SAN, the witness said he took the money he brought and written note from Mamu to the kidnappers.
The witness said he did not know whether CDS communicated with Tukur because he was not a member of the committee. When asked he negotiated the ransom with Mamu the witness clarified that a former commissioner negotiated with Tukur, ” Certainly they did.”
He agreed with the defence counsel that the kidnappers said they needed four journalists that will do the job for them.
On whether it was the kidnappers that were dictating what should be done, the judge said the court will determine that from the record.
Recall that the Federal Government had on March 21, 2023, arraigned Mamu for allegedly aiding terrorist operations in the country.
The Kaduna-based Islamic scholar was further accused of collecting various sums of money in different currencies from families of victims the train attack, on behalf of the Boko Haram terrorists sect.
FG told the court that investigations revealed that the defendant collected an aggregate sum of $420, 000 from families of the victims, as well as N21million from another set of families of the train attack.
It further alleged that Mamu concealed funds he earned from services he rendered to the terrorist organization, in his residence in Kaduna State.
It told the court that the defendant had sometime in 2022, in Kaduna state, received ransom payments in the sum of N500, 000 on behalf of the Boko haram terrorist group, from families of the train attack that were held as hostages.
More so, in the charge that was signed by the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation, DPPF, Mr, M.B. Abubakar, FG, added that the defendant exchanged voice note communications with one Baba Adamu, identified as spokesperson of the Boko Haram, in relation to acts of terrorism.
It maintained that the defendant acted in breach of the Terrorism Prevention, Prohibition Act, 2022.