Court gives terror suspect till July 20 to make up mind on guilty plea

An Abuja Federal High Court has given one Abubakar Abba, who is being tried by the Department of the State Services, DSS, for alleged terrorism, until July 20, 2026, to make up his mind on whether to plea guilty or not to the allegations against him.

Abubakar Abba is standing trial alongside Mahmud Usman on various terrorism charges before Justice Emeka Nwite.

The matter, which was fixed for continuation of hearing on Thursday, took a dramatic turn when Abba informed the court of his intention to withdraw his earlier not guilty plea.

However, after conferring with his counsel, Husseina Tukur, Abba told the court that he was still undecided on whether to change his plea or retain the earlier one.

The prosecuting counsel, Mr David Kaswe, opposed any further adjournment, arguing that the defendant had made a similar request at the last sitting.

Kaswe urged the court to proceed with the trial if the defendant remained undecided.

In a short ruling, Justice Emeka Nwite held that it was the first time the defendant’s intention to change his plea was formally brought before the court.

The judge said that since the issue was being officially raised on record for the first time, the defendant should be given an opportunity to make up his mind.

Justice Nwite subsequently adjourned the matter until July 20 for the defendant to decide whether to change his plea or for continuation of hearing.

The defendants were arrested in separate operations between May and July 2025 by operatives of the Department of the State Service DSS.

‎They were slammed with a 32-count terrorism charge including kidnapping for ransom, illegal mining to fund terrorism, Improvise Explosive Device (IED) fabrication, terrorism financing and related offences linked to Ansaru.

They are accused of coordinating sleeper cells, attacks, and ties to groups in the Sahel/Maghreb.

On arraignment, Usman pleaded guilty to one count of illegal mining for funding terrorism/arms and was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.

He pleaded not guilty to the remaining 31 counts while Abba pleaded not guilty to all charges.