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| The Federal High Court complex in Abuja. File photograph taken in October 2018. Ovinuchi Prince Ejiohuo / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. |
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja has admitted disputed statements and interrogation recordings in the prosecution of six men accused of planning to overthrow President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Delivering her ruling on Thursday, 5 November, the judge rejected the defendants’ allegations that investigators obtained the material through torture, threats or inducement. She allowed the prosecution to rely on the statements and recordings after concluding a separate hearing into how investigators obtained them.
The defendants have pleaded not guilty to the charges. The ruling addresses the admissibility of evidence rather than whether the prosecution has established their guilt.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Abdulmalik said the defendants appeared calm in the recordings and had not substantiated their allegations of involuntary confessions.
“I discountenance all objections of doubt. Therefore, all the audio-visual recordings were voluntarily recorded, and I found no involuntariness in the exercise,” she declared.
The defence had challenged the circumstances surrounding the interrogations, raising concerns about prolonged detention, access to legal representation and the provision of an interpreter.
Counsel argued that the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, required a lawyer’s presence when investigators recorded confessional statements. Abdulmalik rejected that interpretation in deciding whether to admit the material before her.
Relying on the Evidence Act, 2011, and a Supreme Court decision, the judge held that the absence of counsel did not prevent the admission of an audio-visual statement where the evidence established that the defendant made it voluntarily.
She also held that the Evidence Act took precedence over the ACJA on the evidential question before the court.
Abdulmalik dismissed the argument concerning the length of the defendants’ detention. She also rejected the sixth defendant’s objection about the absence of an interpreter, noting that investigators recorded his statement in Hausa.
The judge found no evidence in the recordings to support the allegations of torture and added that “the defendants failed to substantiate the allegations of oppression.”
She consequently admitted the extra-judicial statements, audio-visual recordings, flash drives and certificates of compliance. The exhibits also included an external drive from the Special Investigation Panel and its accompanying compliance certificate.
The ruling followed a trial-within-trial that Abdulmalik ordered on 11 May after defence counsel opposed the prosecution’s attempt to introduce the statements and interrogation footage.
By then, the prosecution had called four witnesses. Its fourth witness, an army officer identified by the codename “AAA” for security reasons, presented the recordings before the court began examining their admissibility. He has yet to complete his evidence.
The prosecution closed its case in the separate admissibility hearing on 23 June. The defendants began presenting their evidence on 25 June and subsequently concluded their defence in that hearing.
On 30 September, prosecution counsel Maryam Okorie and the defence lawyers adopted their final written addresses and argued their respective positions before the judge reserved her ruling.
The substantive prosecution concerns a 13-count charge against retired Major-General Mohammed Gana, retired Navy Captain Erasmus Victor, Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim, Zekeri Umoru, Bukar Goni and Abdulkadir Sani.
The Federal Government arraigned the six defendants on 22 April. Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, filed the charge, numbered FHC/ABJ/CR/206/2026, on 20 April. The allegations include treason, terrorism, withholding security information and money laundering associated with terrorism financing.
The charge also names former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva, whom the prosecution lists as being at large.
Among the recordings played during the proceedings was an account attributed to Umoru, a Julius Berger Nigeria Plc employee working in the Maintenance Department at the Presidential Villa.
In footage presented on 20 May, Umoru described discussions about cutting electricity to the Villa to assist the alleged operation. He said he warned that an outage of that nature would prompt an immediate investigation and the detention of workers.
Umoru also alleged that Colonel Mohammed Ma’aji, whom investigators identified as the suspected organiser, offered him money through Ibrahim to recruit between 18 and 19 people working within the Villa.
He said the proposed recruits included soldiers, Department of State Services personnel and Julius Berger employees.
During questioning by the Special Investigative Panel, Umoru further alleged that Ma’aji wanted entry to the Villa and said he could gain access “with force,” even without cooperation from the people approached inside.
The sixth defendant, a Zaria-based Islamic cleric, gave a separate account in the recorded evidence. He said he knew about the alleged plan and had warned the other suspects that it would fail and expose those involved.
He also told investigators that those behind the alleged operation recruited him to pray against the disclosure of their activities.
Abdulmalik fixed 7 and 10 December, at noon, for the continuation of the trial.