Abdulmalik Abdulazeez Obadaki, the suspected mastermind of the brutal 2022 armed robbery attack on five commercial banks in Uromi, Edo State where several policemen and civilians were killed and huge sums of money carted away was on Thursday arraigned before a Federal High Court in Abuja.
The Department of State Services (DSS) slammed a six-count charge on Obadaki, including membership of a terrorist group, conspiracy, rendering assistance to acts of terrorism, concealment of information on terrorist activities, and escape from lawful custody.
Obadaki pleaded guilty only to the count of escaping from lawful custody but not guilty to the five terrorism-related charges.
Security sources disclosed that the suspect, who was being held at the Kuje Custodial Centre, confessed to orchestrating the July 2022 jailbreak shortly after he was transferred from Kabba Custodial Centre in June 2022. He escaped during the attack on the facility and remained at large until his rearrest.
The suspect is also believed to be the mastermind of the 2012 terrorist attack on Deeper Life Bible Church in Okene, Kogi State.
The arraignment came two days after the DSS secured a 20-year jail term for Hussaini Ismaila, a leader of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), on terrorism charges.
Justice Joyce Obehi Abdulmalik adjourned the case to January 26, 2026, for review of the facts on the admitted count and arguments on the charges denied. The court ordered that Obadaki be remanded in DSS custody until the next hearing date.