Kaduna Train Attack: How terrorists offered Tukur Mamu N50 million ransom share – Witness
The federal government charged Mr Mamu with collecting aggregate $420, 000 and N21 million from different families of the 2022 train attack hostages.
An investigator with the State Security Service (SSS), on Tuesday, told the Federal High Court in Abuja that Tukur Mamu was offered a N50 million share by Shugaba, leader of the terrorist group, who attacked the Abuja-Kaduna bound train in 2022.
The SSS operative, who testified as sixth prosecution witness in the ongoing terrorism trial of Mr Mamu, the alleged terrorists’ negotiator, told trial judge Mohammed Umar while being led in evidence by prosecution lawyer David Kaswe.
In the ongoing terrorism trial of Tukur Mamu at the Federal High Court in Abuja, a State Security Service (SSS) investigator testified on November 26, 2025, revealing that Mamu, aide to Sheikh Ahmad Gumi and alleged negotiator for the 2022 Abuja-Kaduna train attackers, was offered a N50 million share of ransom by the group's leader, Shugaba. The attack, carried out by Boko Haram-linked terrorists, killed at least eight people and abducted 168 passengers, with 23 released after six months following government intervention. Voice notes extracted from Mamu's seized phones and tablet, played in court, captured Shugaba appreciating Mamu's efforts and instructing him to deduct the N50 million from a ransom tranche, while spokesperson Baba Adamu requested help procuring speakers for preaching and guidance on launching a terrorist website. The SSS witness, testifying anonymously behind a shield, detailed how Mamu convinced the terrorists to bypass the official Chief of Defence Staff committee, negotiating directly with families for personal gain, and admitted during interrogation to communicating via voice notes and directing his in-law, Mubarak Tinja, to hide valuables like cash, cars, and a pump-action gun (with an expired license) ahead of raids on his Kaduna residence and office.
The prosecution, led by David Kaswe, presented evidence of Mamu collecting aggregate $420,000 and N21 million in ransoms from victims' families, including a N500,000 payment concealed in his residence, alongside recovered items like $300,000 in cash, seven vehicles (e.g., Toyota Camry, Lexus, Mercedes E350), military uniforms, foreign currencies, and forensic data from his devices.
Mamu, arrested by Interpol in Cairo on September 7, 2022, en route to Saudi Arabia for Hajj and repatriated to Nigeria, faces 10 counts under the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act, 2022, for aiding operations, money laundering, and terrorism financing; he pleaded not guilty. Admitted exhibits included the voice notes (mostly in Hausa, partially translated), eight of Mamu's confessional statements, video recordings of his interviews, and written accounts from two traumatized victims (a male and female) who declined to testify due to fear. The court admitted these without objection from defense counsel Johnson Usman, who reserved final arguments, and adjourned the trial to November 26 for continuation, with plans for a site visit to stored evidence.
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