Prosecutors told a Plateau State High Court Thursday it would be a “huge risk” to release four suspects standing trial over the April 2026 Angwa Rukuba killings from the custody of the Department of State Services, DSS.
At the resumed hearing, Plateau Attorney General Philemon Audu Daffi urged Justice Danladi Longden to remand the defendants in DSS custody and fix a date for a case management conference, CMC. The AG said the DSS needs more time to conclude its probe, noting that a principal suspect remains at large.
“Allowing the other suspects leave the custody of the DSS could jeopardize investigations,” Daffi told the court.
Lead defence counsel Mustapha Shabbat Ibrahim, SAN, said he did not oppose setting a CMC date but objected to his clients’ continued detention by the DSS, citing difficulty in accessing them.
Daffi countered, telling the court that in his 37 years of practice he had “yet to encounter an occasion where the DSS blocked lawyers from accessing clients in their detention facility.”
Justice Longden adjourned to May 8, 2026 for the CMC and ordered the four defendants remanded in DSS custody.
The Plateau State Government arraigned the four suspects last week over the Angwa Rukuba killings in Jos North LGA.
They face counts of criminal conspiracy to commit terrorism and related offences. The defendants are Isa Umar Ibrahim, Auwalu Abubakar a.k.a. Auwalu Dogo, Musa Abubakar Ibrahim a.k.a. Yaroro, and Adamu Isa Alhassan.
Alhassan, arraigned separately in Court 9, faces additional charges of culpable homicide, illegal possession of firearms, and dealing in arms and ammunition.
The AG said their actions contravened Section 269 and are punishable under Section 270 of the Plateau State Penal Code Law, 2017.
According to the charge sheet, the defendants and one Ado Ibrahim, now at large, on March 28, 2025, at Farin Gada, Jos North, conspired to commit terrorism by planning, organising, funding and carrying out the Angwan Rukuba attack that left “over thirty” people dead.
A separate count alleges that Adamu Isa Alhassan and others at large, between January 2025 and January 2026, armed themselves with guns and attacked Gwang, Rin Ward, Bachit and Bangai villages in Riyom LGA and Vom in Jos South LGA, committing culpable homicide punishable with death.
The four were arrested between April 3 and April 10, 2026.
The charges stem from a wave of violence on March 28, 2025, when suspected herders attacked communities in Bokkos and Bassa LGAs, killing at least 30 people, including children.
After the killings, some residents called for the cancellation of the state’s “Experience Plateau, Arts Meets Fashion” programme. Governor Caleb Mutfwang rejected the calls.
“Last week, Bokkos Local Government Area came under renewed attack by murderers who are desperate to break our spirit,” Mutfwang said. “Many advised that we suspend this function, but we realized that these attackers intend to keep us in perpetual mourning… I said no! Life must go on. Plateau must move forward.”
He added: “Let me be clear: it is genocide, and I urge the international community to take note.”
President Bola Tinubu visited Jos early this month, met victims, assessed damage, and pledged justice.
On Tuesday night in Abuja, the President met Mutfwang and Plateau elders and announced a N2 billion relief fund for victims, urging Nigerians to live in peace.
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