Terrorism: DSS asks court to admit evidence against 3 alleged spies,
By Ikechukwu Nnochiri
ABUJA— The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday adjourned to rule on the admissibility of confessional statements allegedly made by three Nigerians accused of acting as spies for Iran.
The trio, Haruna Ali Abbas, Ibrahim Hussaini Musa and Adam Suleiman, are answering to a terrorism charge the federal government preferred against them through the Department of State Services, DSS.
It was alleged that the defendants who were arrested in Kano and Lagos states in 2013, were engaged by some persons in Iran, to spy on American and Israeli interests in Nigeria.
The three defendants had in the course of their trial, challenged the admissibility of extra-judicial statements they made after they were arrested, as part of the proof of evidence against them.
They insisted that the statements were not voluntarily made, a development that led the court to order a trial-within-trial in the matter.
At the resumed proceeding yesterday, the prosecution counsel, Mr. Bello Abu, described the defendants’ objection to the evidence as an afterthought.
Refuting the allegation that they were coerced to incriminate themselves, Abu urged the court to admit the statements in evidence and go ahead with the substantive trial.
However, the defence lawyers, Aliyu Yawuri, Bala Dakun and Bello Ibrahim, maintained that the said statements were not admissible in law, alleging that they were made under duress.
After he had listened to both sides, trial Justice Emeka Nwite announced that date for the ruling would be communicated to the parties.
The DSS had in the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/129/2014, told the court that it was the 1st defendant, Abbas, that recruited young Nigerians that included Musa and Suleiman, for terrorist training in Iran and also participated in meetings linked to terrorism.
It alleged that he transmitted intelligence on both US and Israeli targets in Lagos, to a contact in Iran via encrypted communication.
On the other hand, both Musa and Suleiman were accused of conspiring to obtain Nigerian passports and Iranian visas for terrorist training.
The duo were also alleged to have conducted surveillance on US and Israeli embassies in Abuja, Kano and Lagos, in preparation for terrorist attacks.
Meanwhile, upon their arraignment before the court, the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charge, even as they were remanded in custody of the security agency.
The post Terrorism: DSS asks court to admit evidence against 3 alleged spies appeared first on Vanguard News.
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The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja yesterday adjourned to rule on the admissibility of confessional statements allegedly made by three Nigerians accused of acting as spies for Iran.
The post Terrorism: DSS asks court to admit evidence against 3 alleged spies appeared first on Vanguard News.
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