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The Department of State Services, DSS, on Thursday re-arraigned five men accused of complicity in the May 15 kidnap of pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State and the subsequent killing of two of the victims.

They were arraigned on a seven-count amended charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/438/2026, filed by the DSS on behalf of the Federal Government.

The defendants, accused of being members of the Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan (ANSARU) terrorist group, are Mahmud Muhammad (aka Abu Bara’a, Abbas Mukhtar); Abubakar Abbas (aka Isah Adam, Mallam Mahmuda Al-Nigeri); Abdulrazak Umar (aka Abu Khalifa/Abu Khalid); Yunusa Musa (aka Abu Yunusa Bin Musa); and Shamsu Adamu Sani (aka Abu Itisar).

All five defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to them by the Registrar of the court.

The Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation (DPPF), Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, who led the DSS legal team, applied for the immediate trial of the defendants in line with the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.

He also applied for the names of witnesses lined up to testify in the trial to be shielded and for them to be permitted to wear masks to ensure their protection.

Following no objection from counsel to the defendants, Bala Dakum, Justice Salim Ibrahim granted the request of the DSS counsel.

At the time of filing this report, arrangements for the full-scale trial were being put in place.

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LAGOS — A post-mortem examination conducted by the Department of Pathology and Forensic Medicine at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) has confirmed that 20-year-old journalist Pelumi Onifade died from a penetrating firearm injury to the abdomen.

The finding is contained in a six-page autopsy report dated July 30, 2026, and submitted to the Lagos State Coroner’s Court investigating the circumstances surrounding the young journalist’s death during the October 2020 #EndSARS protests.

According to the report, Onifade died from massive haemoperitoneum, a severe accumulation of blood in the abdominal cavity, caused by a high-velocity projectile that penetrated his abdomen.

The forensic finding provides medical evidence establishing a gunshot injury as the cause of death, while the circumstances surrounding who fired the shot and the events that followed remain matters before the coroner’s proceedings.

How Onifade Died

Onifade was a 200-level History student of Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED) and worked as an intern reporter with Gboah TV, a Lagos-based online news platform.

On October 24, 2020, during the nationwide #EndSARS protests against police brutality, he was assigned to cover an attempted looting at a government palliative storage facility in the Abattoir area of Oko-Oba, Agege, Lagos.

According to accounts presented by his family and colleagues, Onifade was wearing a press jacket and carrying reporting equipment when officers attached to the Lagos State Task Force opened fire while attempting to disperse the crowd.

He was reportedly struck by a bullet and subsequently taken away in a police van, commonly referred to as a Black Maria.

A colleague who was with him at the scene reportedly attempted to identify him as a journalist and explain that he was carrying camera equipment, but those efforts were unsuccessful.

Onifade was not seen alive again after that incident.

Family Searched Police Stations, Hospitals

Following his disappearance, his family and colleagues searched police stations, detention facilities and hospitals across Lagos in an attempt to establish his whereabouts.

According to the family, police authorities denied having him in custody.

Six days later, on October 30, 2020, the family located his body at the mortuary of Ikorodu General Hospital, where it had been registered as a “brought-in-dead” case under body number 1385.

The discovery triggered years of demands for an independent investigation into how the young journalist died and how his remains ended up in the mortuary.

DNA Test Identified the Body

The identity of the body was subsequently confirmed through forensic DNA testing.

Results from the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre established a match between the unidentified body bearing tag number 1385 and reference samples obtained from Onifade’s parents.

The DNA confirmation provided a crucial breakthrough after years of uncertainty surrounding the whereabouts and identity of the missing journalist.

Court Ordered Coroner’s Inquest

The search for accountability later moved into the courts.

In July 2024, Justice Ayokunle Olayinka Faji of the Federal High Court in Lagos ordered the Lagos State Government and the police to conduct a coroner’s inquest into Onifade’s death.

The objective of the inquest is to establish the circumstances surrounding his death and determine the facts surrounding the actions of the security personnel involved.

The ongoing proceedings before the Lagos State Coroner’s Court are being presided over by Magistrate Temitope Oladele.

Following the submission of the post-mortem report, the court has directed key witnesses, including police personnel who were on duty in the Oko-Oba area on October 24, 2020, to appear and testify.

Rights Groups Demand Accountability

Media Rights Agenda (MRA), which has supported the Onifade family in its legal efforts, has described the post-mortem findings as significant evidence in the case.

Rights activists, journalist unions, and the deceased’s family continue to demand the public prosecution of the police officers who fired the shot and those who supervised the deployment during the Lagos #EndSARS demonstrations.

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Former Central Bank Governor and the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has advised prospective investors not to use their children’s school fees or sell their homes to buy shares in Dangote Refinery.

He gave the advice on Thursday while speaking at the Dangote Refinery Initial Public Offering (IPO) investor roadshow in Kano.

He encouraged Kano residents and other interested investors to invest only money they could afford to leave untouched for some time. He suggested starting with amounts such as N10,000, N20,000 or N30,000.

He said, “Do not take your children’s school fees and put in shares; do not sell the house that you live in and put in shares.

But what you can afford, N10,000, N20,000, N30,000; what you can afford to set aside for some time, set it aside. And if you look at the fundamentals of the economy, over time you can be assured that this investment will grow, and you will not regret it.”

The Dangote Refinery IPO opened on September 14, with investor outreach activities continuing across the country.

Sanusi urged Kano residents to participate in the capital market and become shareholders in the refinery founded by Kano-born businessman Aliko Dangote.

“I speak as the Emir of Kano, I would like my people to be owners of this company.

I do not want us to be left behind in the capital markets. I do not want us to be left behind in financial inclusion. So this is the time and this is the opportunity,” he said.

He also asked union leaders and representatives of other groups to educate their members about the opportunity.

Sanusi advised investors to take a long-term approach instead of buying shares with the intention of making quick profits.

“I’m not talking about someone who will buy N5,000 shares and want to sell tomorrow and believe he will get N10,000. No, I’m talking about you have some money, put it in, leave it there for some time, and just watch your money grow.

Forget about it for some time. You’ll be surprised in five years, the N10,000 you invest today, what it will be; the N100,000 you invest, what it will be,” Sanusi said.

The Emir also said the location of the refinery should not stop Kano residents from investing, noting that ownership of a company belongs to its shareholders.

“It doesn’t matter where the refinery is located. It could be located in Lagos, or Ibadan, or on the moon. It is the shareholders who own it.

“It is the shareholders who own it; it’s the shareholders who take the return; it is the shareholders who own the profit,” he said.

Sanusi described Dangote as a son of Kano and encouraged residents to use the IPO to take a stake in the company.

“We have heard Lagos claim Aliko. I know very soon even Egypt will claim him, America will claim him. But we all know where he comes from,” he said.

The Emir also highlighted the refinery’s operations, saying potential shareholders could see its assets and activities, including the production of refined petroleum products and fertiliser.

He said the refinery was creating direct and indirect employment opportunities and had secured access to gas supplies, ports and markets.