The Plateau State High Court sitting in Jos has ordered the remand of 20 suspects accused of brutally killing 13 wedding guests and injuring several others in Mangun community, Mangu Local Government Area of the state.
The victims — 32 men, women, and children— were travelling from Basawa in Sabon Gari LGA of Kaduna State in an 18-seater bus en route to Kwa community in Qua’an Pan LGA, Plateau State, to attend a wedding ceremony.
They were thereafter ambushed by the armed assailants.
Initially, the Plateau State Police Command arraigned 22 suspects in connection with the attack.
However, proceedings were stalled when defense counsel, Garba Pwul, SAN, objected to the inclusion of two minors, aged 13 and 17, in the charge.
The court agreed and ordered the prosecution to amend the charges to exclude the underage defendants.
Following the amendment, the remaining 20 suspects were rearraigned on Friday and slammed with a four-count charge, including criminal conspiracy, causing grievious bodily harm, culpable homicide and murder —offences punishable under Sections 59, 220, 313, and 187 of the Plateau State Law, Cap 2017.
Prosecuting counsel, Samuel Idowu Ikutanwa, alleged that the defendants conspired and armed themselves with dangerous weapons — including firearms, machetes, cutlasses, and petrol—before launching the deadly attack. All the accused pleaded not guilty.
Following their plea, the prosecution urged the court to adjourn the case for case management and sought a custodial order to remand the suspects at the Jos Correctional Centre.
While the defense did not oppose the remand application, it filed a motion for bail. However, the prosecutor objected, noting that he had only just been served the application and required the legally stipulated seven days to respond.
The court granted the prosecution’s request and ordered the remand of the 20 suspects. The case was adjourned for further proceedings.
While speaking to journalists on the incident, the state Commissioner of Police, Emmanuel Adesina, said the police command had swiftly responded to the incident, deploying men and operational assets to the scene to ensure the arrest of the perpetrators