ABUJA — The trial of five men accused of kidnapping pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State began on Thursday at the Federal High Court, Abuja, with a teacher testifying as the first prosecution witness. The witness, whose identity was protected, told the court that armed men invaded their schools on May 15 and held the victims in the forest for 56 days. She said seven teachers and 39 students were taken, and that the kidnappers spoke mostly Hausa, with a few speaking Yoruba. The defendants, Mahmud Usman Muhammad, Abubakar Abbas, Abdulrazak Umar, Yunusa Musa and Shamsu Adamu Sani, pleaded not guilty to seven charges before Justice Salim Ibrahim. The Director of Public Prosecutions, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, obtained witness protection orders, which defence counsel did not oppose.