· Says court will determine Mamu’s fate
By Emmanuel OGBECHE
As reactions continue to trail the arrest and detention of Tukur Mamu, the Kaduna train hostage- for-ransom negotiator, the State Security Services commonly known as the Department of State Services, DSS, has warned against “unguarded utterances” from some Nigerians.
Mamu, the Kaduna-based publisher of Desert Herald, was arrested on Tuesday, September 6, 2022 by security operatives in Cairo, Egypt and brought back to Nigeria for allegedly collecting ransom and taking same to terrorists in exchange for kidnapped victims.
Upon his arrest, the self-appointed negotiator had boasted that “I don’t have anything to hide and I’m not afraid of them (DSS). I swear to God I’m not afraid of them. I just want the world to know of what is happening.”
A few days later, the DSS said it had recovered military gears and a large amount of cash during a raid of the home and office of Mamu.
In the statement last Thursday by its spokesperson, Dr. Peter Afunanya, the explained that the military gears and cash were among the incriminating items found by operatives who conducted a search of Mamu’s properties.
“So far, appropriate security agencies have executed valid search warrants on Mamu’s residence and office,” he said while giving an update on Mamu’s arrest. “During the processes, incriminating materials including military accouterments were recovered.
“Other items include large amounts in different currencies and denominations, as well as financial transaction instruments. While further investigations continue, Mamu will, sure, have a day in court.”
Reacting to the development, Sheik Ahmad Gumi, a Kaduna-based Islamic scholar who has met severally with bandits and terrorists, accused the secret police of act of terrorism against Mamu who is his media consultant.
“Take him to court to face trial. Keeping him in custody despite being a family man was just to intimidate him. This intimidation is also terrorism. Arresting people unjustly is also terrorism; just like the terrorists do by going to somebody’s house to kidnap him,” Daily Trust quoted Gumi as saying.
“How can we continue in this situation under a government that is about to wind up? Our hope is for them to finish successfully not in a bad light. It’s not about Tukur Mamu, you all know that whenever they arrest innocent people, I always talk, not to talk of someone that I know and I’m only advising the government to release him so that we can apologize to him to forget what happened,” Gumi said on Saturday, September 10.
Also, newspaper publisher, Mahmud Jega, questioned why the DSS allowed Mamu to board a plane to Egypt only to have him arrested and rendered back as well as why the suspect’s home was searched without his being present.
“The security service’s method of arresting Mamu however left some unanswered questions. Why was he allowed to board a plane from Kano, with many family members, only to be arrested in Egypt and deported back to Nigeria? Maybe DSS has a good explanation for that.
“Hours after he was whisked away as his plane landed in Kano, agents raided his office and house and said they found a lot of incriminating material. Such raids were better conducted while Mamu was around. Otherwise, some people will say that cops are known to plant things in a suspect’s house, only to raid it and “find” them. Quite often when the police parade [dead] armed robbers and display weapons said to have been recovered from them, some people think that the weapons could have been planted. The most notorious such case was the case of the Apo Six in 2003,” Jega wrote in a piece titled, “Mamu: From negotiator to suspect.”
Reacting to the development, the DSS on Sunday noted that it had “followed, with keen observation, overzealous comments by sections of the public in view of issues relating to the arrest and investigation of Tukur Mamu.
“The Service wishes that it is not distracted with some of the skewed narratives pervading the media space. Instead, it requests to be left alone to concentrate on the ongoing investigations, the outcomes of which have remained mindboggling.”
Dr. Afunanya stressed that “the Service will cease further comments on the subject matter since the court will determine its course.
“Consequently, the public is hereby enjoined to desist from making unguarded utterances and await the court proceedings.”
