Alleged Coup Plot: Govt Urges Court to Admit Accused Persons’ Statements

The Federal Government has urged a Federal High Court in Abuja to admit in evidence statements made by six men accused of involvement in an alleged plot to overthrow the President Bola Tinubu-led administration.

The request was made during the ongoing trial-within-trial aimed at determining whether the statements were voluntarily obtained or made under duress.

The prosecution’s fourth witness, identified as “DDD”, told the court that the statements were made voluntarily and that none of the defendants was subjected to torture, harassment or intimidation during the process.

Led in evidence by prosecuting counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), the witness denied claims by the defendants that they were tortured into making the statements.

He also dismissed allegations that the accused persons were chained during questioning.

“It is not true. The feet of the defendants were not chained. They walked into the interview room by themselves,” the witness told the court.

DDD explained that if the defendants had been chained, the sound of chains would have been captured in the audiovisual recording of the interview session played before the court.

The witness further stated that none of the defendants requested the presence of their lawyers, family members, officials of the Legal Aid Council or a Justice of the Peace during the interviews.

He urged the court to admit both the statements and audiovisual recordings of the interview sessions as evidence in the main trial.

During cross-examination by defence lawyers, the witness maintained that the accused persons were neither tortured nor forced to make the statements, despite admitting that the interviews were not conducted in the presence of their lawyers or relatives.

At the end of the proceedings, Oyedepo announced the closure of the prosecution’s case in the trial-within-trial after presenting four witnesses.

Meanwhile, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik ordered the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate allegations that some evidence tendered in court and served on defence lawyers was allegedly posted on social media.

The judge directed that anyone found to have violated the court’s witness protection order should be identified and prosecuted.

The order followed claims by the prosecution that videos tendered in court were posted online by social media personality Martins Vincent Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan.

All six defence lawyers denied involvement and requested that the prosecution file a formal application to allow them respond appropriately.

Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the trial-within-trial proceedings to June 25 and 30 for the first three defendants, while the remaining defendants are scheduled to present their defence on July 1 and 2.

The court also fixed July 20 for ruling on the bail applications filed by the accused persons.