The Oyo Division of the Federal High Court has fixed March 3 and 4 to restart the trial of three Malians accused of being the brains behind the Bodija bomb explosion in Ibadan.

Justice Nkeonye Maha picked the new dates as Thursday’s proceedings were stalled due to the absence of the prosecutor and one of the two defence counsel.

The three Malians, Ramatu Camara, 47; Ganiu Malik, 20; and Abubakar Samasa, 64, are facing charges related to the January 16, 2024, explosion.

The bomb explosion was reported to have killed 14 people, injured many others, and destroyed much property.

Counsel to the first and second defendants, Adewale Adedeji, stated that the prosecutor, Victor Alma, called him to say he would be absent in court because he was bereaved.

The counsel to the third defendant, Mohammed Kyri, was equally absent for Thursday’s proceedings.

The case was first before Justice Ekeret Akpan, who was later transferred to another jurisdiction.

Furthermore, the Oyo State Ministry of Justice desired to assume a prosecutorial role in the matter, a move challenged by the Federal Ministry of Justice.

After a series of adjournments, the court ruled on February 24, 2025, that the Oyo State Ministry of Justice could not assume a prosecutorial role due to the case’s nature.

It ruled that terrorism-related matters were exclusive reserves of the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and outside what any state’s justice ministry could handle.

The defendants, Messrs Camara, Malik, and Samasa, had earlier, on March 6, 2024, pleaded not guilty to the five-count charge brought against them.

The charges border on conspiracy, use and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, stockpiling of radioactive materials, and dispersal of biological weapons.

(NAN)