Five men accused of involvement in the kidnapping of pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State have pleaded not guilty to seven amended terrorism charges.

The defendants were re-arraigned on Thursday by the Department of State Services (DSS) before the Federal High Court in Abuja.They are accused of complicity in the May 15 abduction of pupils and teachers, which allegedly resulted in the killing of two of the victims.

The seven-count amended charge, filed on behalf of the Federal Government by the DSS, is marked FHC/ABJ/CR/438/2026.

The defendants were identified as Mahmud Muhammad, also known as Abu Bara’a and Abbas Mukhtar; Abubakar Abbas, alias Isah Adam and Mallam Mahmuda Al-Nigeri; Abdulrazak Umar, also known as Abu Khalifa and Abu Khalid; Yunusa Musa, alias Abu Yunusa Bin Musa; and Shamsu Adamu Sani, also known as Abu Itisar.

The Federal Government accused the five defendants of being members of Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan (ANSARU), a terrorist organisation.

When the charges were read to them in court, all five defendants entered pleas of not guilty.

The Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, who led the DSS legal team, subsequently asked the court to order the immediate commencement of the trial in accordance with the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.

Oyedepo also requested that the identities of prosecution witnesses be protected during the proceedings.

He asked the court to allow the witnesses to testify while wearing masks, citing the need to safeguard their security.Counsel to the defendants, Bala Dakum, did not oppose the applications.

Justice Salim Ibrahim consequently granted the requests made by the prosecution.At the time of filing the report, arrangements were reportedly being made for the commencement of the full-scale trial.Further details are expected as proceedings continue.