The trial of the alleged killers of Arise Television news anchor Somtochukwu Maduagwu and security guard Barnabas Danlami was stalled on Monday after the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) failed to bring the suspects to court.
Eleven defendants, facing a nine-count charge including armed robbery and culpable homicide, did not appear at the Federal Capital Territory High Court. All had previously pleaded not guilty.
The accused are Suleiman Badamosi, Zaradeen Mohammed, Musa Umar, Mashikur Jamil, Suleiman Sani, Abubakar Usman, Shamsu Hassan, Sani Surajo, Hassan Isah, Abubakar Alkamu, and Abdulsalam Saleh.
According to NAN, Adama Musa, the prosecution counsel, told the court that the prison officers claimed they were unaware of the scheduled hearing.
“On the part of the prosecution, we are in court with four witnesses who we went the extra mile to ensure are present; they abandoned their offices and are in court today,” Musa said.
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Presiding Judge Mohammed Idris adjourned the trial to February 10 and urged all witnesses to return on that date for proceedings to continue.
The case stems from a September 29 incident in which about 15 armed men invaded Unique Apartments, a 16-flat, four-storey building in the Katampe area of Abuja. Somtochukwu, popularly known as Sommie, died after reportedly jumping from the building, while Danlami, a security guard, was shot dead during the robbery.