Suspected suicide bomber, Mustapha Umar, yesterday asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to dismiss the terrorism charge preferred against him by the Federal Government.
Umar said the government woefully failed to link him with the offence.
The suspected member of the now outlawed Boko Haram terror group is standing trial for allegedly attempting to bomb a building in Kaduna occupied by ThisDay newspaper and two other media establishments on April 26, 2012
He urged the court to discountenance the allegation against him moments after the Federal Government closed its case against him.
Umar announced that he would bring a formal application to collapse the charge against him.
Ealier, the suspect had confessed to the court that the attacks on two offices of Thisday newspaper in Abuja and Kaduna the same day were planned by him and his friends.
He, however, said the coordinated attack was not supported by Boko Haram, adding that it was intended to wreck ThisDay organisation for profanation of Prophet Mohammed a few years back.
He spoke through a recorded video played in court yesterday.
Umar, 34 years, a Kanuri from Borno State and a widower with children, said he was not a member of Boko Haram.
The suspect, however, said he and his friends trained under Sheikh Ja'afar M'adam in Maiduguri.
Umar, who said he was educated up to secondary school level having attended the Government Day Secondary School, Maiduguri, disclosed that while the Kaduna bombing was done with his private Honda car which he bought a year earlier, the bombing of the newspaper's office in Abuja was carried out by his friend – Alhaji – with his (Alhaji's) jeep.
The recorded interview contained in a video compact disc, VCD, was tendered in court on Tuesday by prosecution lawyer, S. M. Labaran, and played in the open court yesterday.
The trial judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, admitted in evidence a translated transcription of the interview conducted in Hausa.
With the admission of the exhibit, the prosecution closed its case.
Nureini Sulaiman, who led the defence, said he was going to make a no case submission.
Ademola adjourned to June 24 for adoption of all processes in respect of the defence no-case submission.
National Mirror