The Federal High Court in Abuja has admitted in evidence three video clips supplied by the Department of State Services (DSS) to puncture claims of duress by five suspected masterminds of the 2011 bombing of the United Nations complex in the city facing trial.
The presiding judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, subsequently fixed the fifth of December for continuation of the trial-within-trial of the five defendants, including Khalid Al‑Barnawi
The trial-within-trial will involve the playback of video clips in the courtroom to determine the veracity of claims by the defendants that they made their extra-judicial statements before the DSS under duress.
The DSS is accusing the five terror suspects led by Al-Barnawi, of being the masterminds of the August 26, 2011, bombing of the United Nations Complex in Abuja, where 20 people were killed and more than 70 others injured in the attack.
Al-Barnawi, captured in 2016, is facing trial alongside four other terror suspects – Mohammed Bashir Saleh, Umar Mohammed Bello aka Datti, Mohammed Salisu, and Yakubu Nuhu aka Bello Maishayi.
The trial suffered several delays due to legal and procedural challenges thrown up by the defendants, including the absence of legal representation on several occasions the suspects were brought to court. However, all that changed after Mr. Oluwatosin Ajayi was appointed Director General, with him insisting on speedy trial for suspects he inherited as well as for those arrested under his watch.
The DSS recently requested the court to grant an accelerated hearing in the case, a request Justice Nwite granted, same way judges trying DSS cases against terror suspects Mahmud Muhammad Usman aka Mahmuda, Muhammed Usman aka Abu Bara’a, as well as those standing trial in the Yelwata and Benue massacres, have obliged the DSS DG’s request for speedy trial.
Following the conclusion of playing back the video clip of the first defendant, Justice Nwite fixed December 5 for the commencement of playing back the video clips of the other defendants.
Earlier on Friday, Justice Nwite had admitted the extra-judicial statements made by three other persons charged by the DSS for alleged terrorism.
The trioka are being tried for allegedly spying on the US and Israel’s interests for certain individuals in Iran.
Haruna Ali Abbas, Ibrahim Hussaini Musa, and Adam Sulaiman were accused of spying on the US and Israel’s interests for individuals in Iran.
The case, which had been ongoing since 2014 and re-assigned multiple times, reached a point in August 2025 during a trial-within-trial to determine if the defendants’ alleged extra-judicial statements were made voluntarily or under duress.
While the defendants claimed that they were coerced, harassed, and intimidated to make their statements, the prosecution held that the statements were made voluntarily.
The prosecution claimed that the accused persons read through the statements, through the cautionary words, and signed, hence, they should be admitted in evidence.
Justice Nwite, who ordered a trial within a trial, allowed both parties to call witnesses who gave evidence.
The prosecution, which called three witnesses, said they conducted their operations within the best standard procedure, as they paid attention to the welfare of suspects in their custody in terms of food and medication, while also allowing them access to their families.
The defendants, on the other hand, recounted their alleged torture in the DSS facility, alleging that they were beaten and given inhuman treatment.
After hearing arguments from both the prosecution and defense counsel, Justice Nwite ruled that the defendant’s statements be admitted in evidence.
The Judge held that the prosecution, through the witnesses, had proved to the court that they were not forced to make their statements.
Justice Nwite, after admitting the statements as exhibits, adjourned the matter to January 22, 2026, for a substantive hearing.
