The Federal High Court in Abuja has scheduled 26 May for the State Security Service to begin presenting evidence against former Attorney-General of the Federation Abubakar Malami, SAN, and his son Abdulaziz, who face terrorism-related charges. Justice Joyce Abdulmalik fixed the date after prosecutors, led by Akinlolu Kehinde, SAN, substituted the original charge with an amended five-count version that both defence counsel Shaibu Aruwa, SAN, accepted without objection.
The new charge alleges that in December 2025 at Geeze Phase II, Birnin Kebbi, the pair prepared to commit terrorist acts while unlawfully holding a Sturm Magnum 17-0101 firearm, 16 live Redstar cartridges and 27 spent shells. Both defendants pleaded not guilty when the counts were read. Kehinde requested a trial date; Aruwa asked that the Malamis remain on the bail terms granted on 27 February, a request the judge granted while also setting 15 June as a further hearing day.
A former chief law officer who once decided who got prosecuted now stands in the dock himself, facing terrorism charges built around a hunting rifle and a handful of cartridges—an irony that will not be lost on Nigerians who watched him wield sweeping powers for seven years.
The SSS's choice of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, rather than straightforward firearms infractions, signals an eagerness to pin the gravest possible label on Malami, yet the inventory listed—one firearm, 16 live rounds, 27 spent shells—reads more like items seized at a rural shooting range than the arsenal of a terror cell. By inflating the narrative, the agency risks turning a clear-cut illegal-possession case into a political spectacle that could collapse under judicial scrutiny.
For Nigerians living under genuine terror threats in the North-East and bandit-ravaged North-West, the sight of ex-officials tried under terror laws for minor arms offences may feel like security agencies are chasing headlines instead of the killers who still hold swathes of the countryside. If the case unravels, it will reinforce the cynicism that the powerful only face the law when they fall out with the centre, while ordinary citizens bear the real cost of insecurity.
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