Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday rejected the bail applications filed by a kidnap kingpin, Hamisu Bala, otherwise known as Wadume, and six others.
While ruling on the defendants’ applications for bail, Justice Binta Nyako ordered that they should be immediately moved from the custody of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the police to the prison in Kuje, Abuja.
Justice Nyako said it was pointless granting the defendants bail when the court was already giving their case an accelerated hearing.
The court also ordered that the defendants be given access to a medical facility and allowe access to their lawyers while in prison.
Policemen from the Intelligence Response Team of the Inspector General of Police office first arrested Wadume in Ibi, Taraba State, on August 6, 2019, for a kidnap case in which he was said to have demanded N106million as ransom.
But as he was being conveyed from Ibi to Abuja, 10 soldiers led by Captain Tijjani Balarabe shot at them, killing three of the policemen to free Wadume from custody.
The kidnap kingpin was, however, later rearrested for interrogation before he was charged along with others in February this year.
Early in June, the names of soldiers initially charged along with Wadum were removed from the charges as defendants by the Attorney-General of the Federation’s office.
Two prosecution witnesses, earlier on Wednesday, testified in the case, narrating Balarabe’s roles after helping Wadume’s escape from custody.