Witness: THISDAY Bomber Attacked Office with 12 Gas Cylinders

A Federal High Court in Abuja Monday was told how an alleged member of the Boko Haram sect, Mustapher Umar, bombed the SOJ Plaza occupied by THISDAY, The Moment and The Sun newspapers in Kaduna with 12 camp gas cylinders.
The revelation was made on a day the trial judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, barred the public from observing the trial of Umar.

In the ruling, Justice Ademola granted the application brought by the federal government seeking a secret trial for the suspect.
The judge however ruled that accredited journalists should be allowed to cover the trial.

Umar is the prime suspect charged on a one-count for allegedly masterminding the April 26, 2012 bombing of SOJ Plaza in Kaduna, Kaduna State occupied by THISDAY, The Moment and The Sun newspapers.
He was arraigned on a one-count charge of terrorism-related act to which he had pleaded not guilty.

At the resumed trial, Justice Ademola after listening to the arguments and submissions of both parties however ruled that persons other than parties in the suit, their legal representatives and accredited members of the press should be excluded from the trial courtroom.

Justice Ademola further directed that the names and addresses of prosecution witnesses should be kept top secret.

“Due to the nature of this case, because it borders on terrorism and national security, I therefore grant prayers one and two of the prosecution counsel specifically seeking an order restraining the public from the trial,” the judge said.
Subsequently, he ordered the commencement of the trial immediately. As the trial began, the prosecution counsel, Mr. Simon Labaran, brought in his star witness who was completely masked to testify.

The witness had told the court under examination by Labaran how the accused bombed the SOJ plaza along Kontangora Road in Kaduna.

He specifically said he saw the suspect threw an object like a fire extinguisher into the crowd before it exploded, killing three people in the process.

In his testimony, the star prosecution witness, who was simply identified as “Mr. XYZ” due to the sensitive nature of the case, told the court that he personally saw the accused person when he threw the first explosive device that looked like a fire extinguisher, adding that three persons died instantly.

He told the court that initially when the accused person rammed his car into the building, people who had gathered to help him out of the vehicle thinking it was an accident, were shocked when he started shouting “I have brought bombs to this place, it will explode any moment, you people should run oo!”

“At that time people started beating him, asking him to go and remove the bomb and he said if he tried to remove the bomb, it would explode. It was then that I tried to call the police through a security phone number that was given to people in Kaduna for such emergencies.

“When I couldn’t get the police on the phone, I quickly ran to a police station at Sabon-gari which is close to Kotangora Road where the incident took place.
“At the station, I saw that some other persons were already there, so some plain-clothes detectives followed us and I paid for their Okada (commercial motorcycle) fare.

“As we got to the gate of the building, the accused threw something that looked like a fire extinguisher and we heard a loud bang! Instantly, three persons died.  In the pandemonium that ensued, he tried to escape through the fence but was caught by angry youths.

“By that time, he had sustained injuries and was handed over to security operatives. However, the youths who were angry that the police prevented them from killing him at the spot, set his car ablaze, it was then that two other explosions went off.
“Shortly after that, fire fighters arrived at the scene and were able to put out the fire. The car was searched and it was discovered that there were 12 camp gas cylinders inside it, three in front, three in the middle and six in the boot, and all of them were wired to the steering of the car,” he added.

His testimony was corroborated by three other masked witnesses among whom were two police officers and the medical doctor who had treated the accused person at the police clinic where he was rushed owing to the beating he got from the irate mob.

However, upon cross-examination, the counsel to the accused, Mr. Nureini Suleiman, tried to puncture the star witness’ testimony and accused him of giving evidence on the basis of hearsay.

The suspect was alleged to have driven a white Honda Academy car with registration number AL 306 MKA, which was loaded with improvised explosives devices into the premises of the SOJ plaza and detonated same.
The court adjourned sitting till today to continue hearing on the case.