Mustapha Umar, Mohamed Sherif and Ishaka Ngare, face a four-count charge of supplying arms to Boko Haram and destroying public and private property.

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The trial opened in the Yaounde Military Tribunal on Tuesday, June 7, 2016, of three Nigerian men carrying Cameroonian National Identity Cards, accused of involvement in terrorist attacks on Cameroon. Hearing the matter was Mrs. Justice Yvonne-Léopoldine Akoa, Vice President of the Yaounde Military Tribunal.

Mustapha Umar, Mohamed Sherif and Ishaka Ngare, are accused of taking part in the July 27, 2014, attacks on Kolofata, Mayo-Sava Division of the Far North Region. The onslaught left several people dead, with the abduction of Mrs. Amadou Ali née Francoise Agnes Moukouri, alongside several other people. Mrs. Amadou Ali and 26 other hostages were later released on October 11, 2014.

Mustapha Umar, Mohamed Sherif and Ishaka Ngare face a four-count charge of illegal entry into Cameroon, possession of firearms and ammunitions, possession of firearms for forcibly entering a building, and the destruction of public and private buildings (including the Kolofata residence of Amadou Ali, Vice Prime Minister and Minister in charge of Relations with the Assemblies). This, the charge sheet read, the suspects did using firearms as part of an insurgent force. They are also accused of attacking the Kousseri Gendarmerie Post in the Logone and Chari Division of the Far North Region.

Meanwhile, the accused are said not to have denied belonging to Boko Haram during interrogation. Of the three suspects, only Mustapha Sherif appeared in court on Tuesday, as court authorities were unable to get Mohamed Sherif and Ishaka Ngare from prison custody. According to the prosecution, the accused fought for Boko Haram for six months as well as carried out attacks for the sect. Mustapha Umar later became an arms dealer, supplying weapons and ammunitions to Boko Haram with Mohamed Sherif and Ishaka Ngare. They reportedly supplied 600 AK47 assault rifles, 25 rocket launchers and 40 rockets to the militants.

The weapons were said to have been ferried into Cameroon from Chad and then transported to a Boko Haram training camp inside Sambisa Forest, Nigeria. Two Cameroonians, Wasiri Isma and Baba Talba, also stand accused of aiding and abetting the activities of the terrorist suspects by transporting fuel on their motorbikes to Boko Haram. The Mayor of Fotokol, Ramat Moussa, was also mentioned in the matter and is due in court on June 20, 2016.

Mustapha Umar, Mohamed Sherif and Ishaka Ngare, were picked up in Kousseri following the July 27, 2014 attacks on Kolofata. Sources said they were caught in possession of a heavy stock of arms, ammunitions, several computers, mobile phones, iPad tablets and tracts threatening those who dared to report them. 

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