Murder of Wedding Guests: Plateau Court Remands 20 Suspects
The Plateau State High Court 10, sitting in Jos, has remanded 20 individuals accused of killing 13 wedding guests in the Mangun community, located in Mangu Local Government Area of the state.
The victims—men, women, and children—were part of a group of 32 travelers journeying in an 18-seater bus from Basawa community in Sabon Gari LGA of Kaduna State. They were en route to a wedding in Kwa community, Qua’an Pan LGA, when they were ambushed by a suspected mob on June 20, 2025.
On Thursday, the Plateau State Police Command had initially arraigned 22 suspects in connection with the attack. However, the court halted proceedings following an objection by the defense counsel, Garba Pwul (SAN), who pointed out that two of the accused—aged 13 and 17—were minors. The court subsequently ordered the prosecution to amend the charge sheet to exclude the minors.
Re-Arraignment and Charges
Following the court’s directive, the police on Friday re-arraigned the remaining 20 suspects.
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Representing the prosecution, Officer-in-Charge of Legal Matters, Samuel Idowu Ikutanwa, presented a four-count charge, which included: Criminal conspiracy, Causing grievous bodily harm, Culpable homicide and Murder and arson involving the killing and burning of 13 individuals.
The offenses, the prosecution said, violated Section 59 of the Penal Code and Sections 220, 313, and 187 of the Plateau State Law Cap 2017.
The prosecution further alleged that the suspects conspired to commit the crimes using dangerous weapons, including firearms, cutlasses, machetes, and petrol.
All 20 defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Court Proceedings and Rulings
After the plea was entered, the prosecutor requested an adjournment for case management and applied for a custodial order to remand the defendants at the Jos Correctional Centre.
While the defense counsel did not oppose the remand request, he filed a motion seeking bail for the accused. However, the prosecution objected, stating that it had only just been served with the bail application and required the legally allotted seven days to respond.
Presiding judge, Justice Boniface Ngyong, upheld the objection and ruled that the bail application was not ripe for hearing. He adjourned the matter to August 13, 2025, and ordered that the defendants remain in custody at the Jos Correctional Centre until then.
By PRNigeria
