Court Admits Statements, Videos of Six Alleged Coup Plotters in Tinubu Government Case

The Federal High Court in Abuja has admitted statements and video recordings made by six alleged coup plotters during military interrogation as evidence in their trial over an alleged plot to overthrow President Bola Tinubu’s government.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik dismissed objections by the defendants, ruling that there was no evidence that the statements and recordings were obtained through coercion or duress.

The decision followed a trial-within-trial conducted to determine whether the evidence was voluntarily obtained. The judge described the defendants’ claims of coercion as an afterthought and dismissed allegations that the military used torture, force or inducement to obtain the statements.

Six Defendants Face 13-Count Charge

The defendants are retired Major General Mohammed Gana, retired Navy Captain Erasmus Victor, Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim, Zekeri Umoru, Bukar Goni and Abdulkadir Sani.

The Federal Government, through the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, arraigned the six men on April 22 on a 13-count charge.

The charges include allegations of treason, terrorism, failure to disclose security intelligence and money laundering linked to terrorism financing.

The charge was filed on April 20 by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN).

Defence Had Challenged Admissibility of Evidence

Justice Abdulmalik ordered the trial-within-trial on May 11 after defence lawyers challenged the admissibility of the statements and video recordings presented by the prosecution.

The defence argued that the defendants did not make the statements voluntarily, prompting the court to conduct separate proceedings to establish whether the evidence was obtained lawfully.

During the proceedings, the prosecution called four witnesses. The fourth witness, an Army officer identified by the codename “AAA”, had earlier tendered video recordings of the defendants’ interrogations before the trial-within-trial began.

Following her ruling admitting the evidence, Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the case until December 7 and 10 for continuation of the trial.

The allegations against the defendants remain subject to determination by the court.

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