The Federal High Court in Abuja has directed the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate allegations that evidence tendered in an ongoing coup plot trial was leaked and circulated on social media, raising concerns over witness protection and judicial integrity.
The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate allegations that evidence tendered in an ongoing coup plot trial was leaked and circulated on social media.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik issued the directive on Tuesday following concerns raised by the prosecution that materials admitted in court and served on defence counsel had appeared on social media platforms, potentially violating existing witness protection measures.
The judge directed the DSS to investigate the source of the alleged leak and identify any individuals responsible for disseminating materials that could undermine the court’s earlier orders aimed at protecting witnesses involved in the trial.
Justice Abdulmalik held that the investigation should proceed alongside the ongoing trial, noting that all six defendants, through their legal representatives, denied any involvement in the alleged disclosure of court documents and video evidence.
The issue arose during proceedings when counsel to the prosecution, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), informed the court that videos tendered as evidence had allegedly been published on social media by a citizen identified as VeryDarkMan.
Oyedepo further told the court that the individual was present among spectators in the courtroom and urged the judge to order an investigation into how the materials found their way into the public domain.
Responding to the allegation, defence lawyers representing the six defendants denied any involvement in the circulation of the materials.
Some of the lawyers argued that the prosecution should file a formal application supported by an affidavit to properly establish the allegations and allow the defence to respond accordingly.
Following the submissions, the court proceeded to hear the defendants’ bail applications.
Defence counsel urged the court to grant bail on liberal terms, while the prosecution opposed the applications and asked the court to dismiss them.
Justice Abdulmalik subsequently adjourned proceedings until June 25 and June 30 for the first, second and third defendants to present their defence in the ongoing trial-within-trial.
The fourth, fifth and sixth defendants are scheduled to open their defence on July 1 and July 2.
The court also fixed July 20 for its ruling on the pending bail applications.
Earlier in the proceedings, the prosecution sought to tender statements allegedly made by the defendants during investigations.
The request was made through the fourth prosecution witness, identified only as “DDD”, who testified in the trial-within-trial convened to determine whether the statements were voluntarily made.
Led in evidence by Oyedepo, the witness denied allegations by the defendants that they were subjected to torture, intimidation or coercion while in custody.
According to the witness, the statements were voluntarily made and none of the defendants was compelled to make admissions during interrogation.
Addressing claims that some defendants had their feet chained during questioning, the witness dismissed the allegation.
“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.
He argued that if chains had been used, the sound would have been audible in the video recordings of the interview sessions that were played before the court.
The witness also explained that no lawyers, family members, officials of the Legal Aid Council or Justices of the Peace were present during the interviews because none of the defendants requested their presence.
He urged the court to admit both the written statements and audio-visual recordings as evidence in the trial.
During cross-examination, the witness acknowledged that the defendants made their statements without the presence of legal representatives, family members, Legal Aid officials or Justices of the Peace.
However, he maintained that the defendants were neither tortured nor forced to provide statements.
At the close of cross-examination, the prosecution announced the closure of its case in the trial-within-trial after calling four witnesses.
The six defendants are standing trial over allegations that they participated in a plot to overthrow the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The court is expected to continue hearing arguments on the admissibility of the disputed statements as proceedings in the high-profile case continue.
Visit GMTNewsng for more news stories.