A Federal High Court in Abuja has admitted key video evidence presented by the Department of State Services (DSS) in the ongoing trial of alleged masterminds of the 2011 bombing of the United Nations building in the nation’s capital.
Justice Emeka Nwite admitted three separate video recordings tendered by the DSS during a trial-within-trial initiated to determine whether the defendants’ earlier confessional statements were made voluntarily. Defence lawyers had argued that their clients were coerced and subjected to pressure during interrogation, but the prosecution insisted the recordings would prove otherwise.
The defendants — including Khalid Al-Barnawi, a suspected senior figure linked to Boko Haram and Ansaru — are facing terrorism charges alongside Mohammed Bashir Saleh, Umar Mohammed Bello, Mohammed Salisu and Yakubu Nuhu. They are accused of participating in or supporting the August 26, 2011 attack on the UN complex in Abuja, an explosion that claimed multiple lives and left dozens injured.
During Friday’s proceedings, the court also accepted additional extra-judicial statements attributed to three other terrorism suspects who are being tried separately on allegations of espionage and aiding extremist groups. Justice Nwite ruled that the prosecution had established adequate grounds to justify the admission of the materials.
The matter was subsequently adjourned to December 5 for continuation of the trial-within-trial, while the substantive terrorism case has been scheduled to resume on January 22, 2026. The court’s decision marks another significant step in a case that has lingered for more than a decade since the deadly UN bombing shook Nigeria and drew international condemnation.
