Oriire: Abductors fed us only when convenient for them – DSS witness tells court
A witness for the Department of State Service (DSS) testified Friday in the Federal High Court in Abuja during the ongoing trial of five alleged members of the Ansaru terrorist group. The witness, identified by the code name AAA, described the difficult conditions faced by victims during their abduction from the Orire school, which lasted 56 days.
During cross-examination by defense counsel Bala Dakum, AAA recounted that food was provided by their abductors only at their convenience, despite the presence of small children, including one as young as 18 months.
The witness also acknowledged that the kidnappers used the victims’ mobile phones to communicate with government officials but could not identify the specific numbers that were dialed.
Following their rescue, AAA was interrogated by DSS officials both at their office and in the hospital. She disclosed that she recognized three of the five defendants as having been with them in the forest but that she met the other two during the questioning at the DSS office.
AAA further stated that two teachers, Michael Oyedokun and John Olaleye, were killed at Camps A and B respectively, although she was not present during the killings and therefore could not identify the specific kidnappers responsible.
Justice Salim Olasupo Ibrahim has scheduled the next hearings for the trial on October 12 and 13.
