Court Admits FG Evidence Against Six Alleged Coup Plotters, Rejects Coercion Claims

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed objections by six alleged coup plotters to the admission of statements and video recordings made during their interrogation by the military over an alleged plot to overthrow President Bola Tinubu’s government.

The judge upheld the Federal Government’s argument that the defendants voluntarily made the statements and participated in the video recordings during interrogation.

In her ruling at the conclusion of a trial-within-trial to determine whether the evidence was obtained voluntarily, Justice Abdulmalik held that there was no evidence that the statements and recordings were made under duress.

She described the defendants’ claims of coercion as an afterthought and unbelievable, dismissing allegations that the military tortured, induced or used force against them to obtain the confessional statements and video recordings.

The judge consequently admitted the statements and recordings as exhibits against the defendants.

The six defendants are retired Major General Mohammed Gana, retired Navy Captain Erasmus Victor, Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim, Zekeri Umoru, Bukar Goni and Abdulkadir Sani, listed as the first to sixth defendants, respectively.

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

The charge, filed on April 20 by the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, contains allegations ranging from treason and terrorism to failure to disclose security intelligence and money laundering linked to terrorism financing.

Justice Abdulmalik had ordered the trial-within-trial on May 11 after defence lawyers challenged the admissibility of the statements and video recordings the prosecution sought to tender.

The defence argued that the statements were not made voluntarily, prompting the court to conduct the separate proceedings after the prosecution had called four witnesses.

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

Following her ruling, Justice Abdulmalik fixed December 7 and 10 for continuation of the trial.