Wadume: Military refuses to release indicted personnel - Malami reveals

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has alleged that the Nigerian Military is yet to release indicted soldiers that were reportedly involved in the case of Wadume.

The Minister made the disclosure in a statement released on Friday night, by his spokesman, Umar Gwandu.

As a result of the claims that the names of the Soldiers involved in the case of the Taraba kingpin, Bala Hamish, popularly known as Wadume, has been released by the Nigerian Army, the Minister deemed it fit to address the issue.

He explained his office severed the charges “in view of the unavailability of the soldiers who in their own case need to be released by the Military authorities in view of the fact that they were perhaps undergoing Military processes before their release.”

The AGF added that in a bid to have speedy trial, the case should be be segmented. He further explained that the absence of some of the accused should not serve as an hindrance to the progress of the case as the available accused persons should be allowed to have a fair trial.

“More so, looking at the facts that the available, accused persons are not to be held responsible for the unavailability of the co-accused persons”, the statement added.

It would be recalled that while the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) officers were transporting the kingpin, Wadume, some soldiers allegedly opened fire on them and went away the kingpin.