A federal high court in Abuja has admitted the statements
and video recordings of six persons accused of plotting to overthrow President
Bola Tinubu’s government.
In a ruling delivered on Thursday, Joyce Abdulmalik, the
presiding judge, dismissed the defendants’ claims that the statements and
recordings were obtained through torture, inducement and other forms of
coercion.
The judge held that there was no evidence that the
defendants made the statements or participated in the video recordings under
duress.
She described their allegations of coercion as an
afterthought, adding that she found them unbelievable.
The ruling followed a trial-within-trial ordered by the
court on May 11, 2026, after defence lawyers challenged the admissibility of
the statements and video recordings tendered by the prosecution.
The lawyers had argued that the defendants did not make the
statements voluntarily.
Before the court ordered the trial-within-trial to determine
whether the statements and recordings were obtained voluntarily, 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.
The six defendants are Mohammed Gana, a retired major
general; Erasmus Victor, retired navy captain; Ahmed Ibrahim; Zekeri Umoru,
Bukar Goni and Abdulkadir Sani.
The federal government, through the office of the
attorney-general of the federation, arraigned them on April 22, 2026, on a
13-count charge bordering on treason, terrorism, failure to disclose security
intelligence and money laundering linked to terrorism financing.
After admitting the statements and video recordings as
exhibits, the court adjourned the case until December 7 and 10 for continuation
of the trial.
THE ALLEGED COUP PLOT
On September 29, 2025, the federal government announced the
cancellation of a parade earlier scheduled to mark the country’s 65th
independence anniversary on October 1.
Days later, there reports emerged linking the cancellation
to an alleged coup attempt.
However, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) dismissed the
reports, insisting that the decision had nothing to do with alleged coup plot.
On October 31, 2025, TheCable reported that 16 military
officers had been arrested in the first week of the month over the alleged coup
attempt, while two others were on the run.
In January 2026, the DHQ confirmed that there was a plot to
overthrow Tinubu.
Samaila Uba, the DHQ director of defence information, said
investigations conducted in line with established military procedures found
that some personnel were involved in a coup plot.
He said the officers would be arraigned before relevant
military judicial panels.
In March, family members of military officers detained over
the alleged coup plot appealed to Tinubu to allow the suspects to be tried in
an open court.
At a press conference in Abuja, wives and other relatives of
the detained officers also requested access to the alleged masterminds of the
coup attempt.
In April, relatives of the detained military officers
protested at the entrance of the national assembly, demanding a speedy trial
and access to their family members.
In the charge sheet, the federal government accused the
defendants of treason and terrorism and failure to disclose security
intelligence and money laundering linked to terrorism financing.
The federal government alleged that the defendants conspired
with one another to “levy war against the state to overawe the President of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria”.
Bukar Kashim Goni was alleged to have “indirectly retained
the aggregate sum of N50,000,000 which forms part of the proceeds of an
unlawful act to wit: terrorism financing”, while Abdulkadir Sani allegedly
retained N2 million from a similar source.
Umoru was alleged to have “without going through a financial
institution accepted a cash payment of the sum of N10,000,000″, and also
retained an additional N8.8 million suspected to be proceeds of terrorism
financing.
Ibrahim, the police inspector, was also accused of taking
possession of N1 million linked to the same alleged scheme.
Ibrahim and Umoru were accused of participating in meetings
tied to terrorist activities.
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