By Olawale Akinremi
The Federal High Court, Ibadan, has fixed March 3 and 4 to restart the trial of
three Malians accused of being the brains behind the Bodija bomb explosion in
Ibadan.
Justice Nkeonye Maha picked the new dates as Thursday’s proceedings were
stalled due to the absence of the prosecutor and one of the two defence counsel.
Recall that the three Malians, Ramatu Camara, 47, Ganiu Malik, 20, and Abubakar
Samasa, 64, are facing charges related to the Jan. 16, 2024, explosion.
The bomb explosion was reported to have killed 14 people, injured many others
and destroyed many properties.
Counsels to the first and second defendants, Mr Adewale Adedeji, and counsel to
the third defendant, Mr Mohammed Kyri, was also absent for Thursday’s
proceedings.
The case was first before Justice Ekeret Akpan before he was transferred to another
jurisdiction.
While the Oyo State Ministry of Justice desired to assume a prosecutorial role on
the matter, the move was challenged by the Federal Ministry of Justice.
After a series of adjournments, the court ruled on Feb. 24, 2025, that the Oyo State
Ministry of Justice could not assume a prosecutorial role due to the case’s nature
stating that terrorism-related matters were exclusive reserves of the Office of the
Attorney-General of the Federation and outside what any state’s justice ministry
could handle.
The defendants, Camara, Malik and Samasa, had earlier, on March 6, 2024,
pleaded not guilty to the five-count charge brought against them.
The charges border on conspiracy, use and proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction, stockpiling of radioactive materials and dispersal of biological
weapons.
