A Kaduna-based publisher, Tukur Mohammed Mamu, has threatened to sue the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), for declaring him a terrorism financier.
According to the document released by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Mamu “participated in the financing of terrorism by receiving and delivering ransom payments over the sum of $200,000 US in support of ISWAP terrorists for the release of hostages of the Abuja-Kaduna train attack.”
But in a letter by his counsel, J.J. Usman (SAN), dated March 25, 2024, and copied the CEO of the NFIU, Mamu demanded a retraction of the publication within seven days or face legal action.
He said the publication by the Nigerian Sanctions Committee authorised by the ministry designating him a “terrorist financier” was defamatory and against natural justice.
“It is a common knowledge that the administration of criminal justice system in Nigeria is not only antithetic to, but forbids media trial in whatever guise,” he said.
Mamu is currently being tried by the Federal Government for allegedly aiding the terrorists who attacked the Abuja-Kaduna train in March 2022.
Mamu, was in 2022, arraigned on 10-count charges bordering on terrorism-related offences after he was intercepted in Cairo, Egypt enroute Saudi Arabia.
He, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges read to him.