The Federal High Court in Abuja has admitted statements and video recordings of six alleged coup plotters, obtained during military interrogations, as evidence in their ongoing trial.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, in a ruling on a trial-within-trial on Thursday, rejected the defendants’ claims that the materials were extracted through torture, inducement and coercion.
The judge held that the Federal Government had successfully demonstrated that the defendants voluntarily made the statements and participated in the recorded interrogations.
She described the allegations of duress as an afterthought, noting that the defence failed to provide evidence that the military tortured the defendants or used force to obtain their statements.
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The six defendants are retired Major General Mohammed Gana, retired Navy Captain Erasmus Victor, Inspector 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 on a 13-count charge bordering on treason, terrorism, failure to disclose security intelligence and money laundering linked to terrorism financing.
The case is marked FHC/ABJ/CR/206/2026.
The trial-within-trial was ordered by Justice Abdulmalik on May 11 after defence counsel challenged the admissibility of statements and video recordings presented by the prosecution, arguing that the materials were not obtained voluntarily.
The objection came after four prosecution witnesses testified, including an Army officer identified by the codename AAA, who tendered video footage of the defendants’ interrogations.
With the court dismissing the objections and admitting the materials as exhibits, Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the case until December 7 and 10 for continuation of the trial.