Trial of the six persons accused of complicity in an alleged plot to overthrow President Bola Tinubu’s administration through a coup d’état continued before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday.
At the resumed proceedings, the court saw a video where one of the defendants, Sheikh Abdulkadir Sani, an Islamic cleric, claimed he warned his co-defendants that the coup plot would fail and they would eventually be exposed.
The Zaria-based cleric, who was answering questions from investigators, further stated in the video evidence that was played before trial Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, that money was given to him to pray for the success of the operation.
He insisted that, despite the money offered to him for prayers, he told the arrowheads of the coup plot that their plan was doomed, as they would be sabotaged from within.
The video recording was played in the open court while the fourth prosecution witness (PW4) was in the box.
According to the 6th defendant (Sheikh Sani), he had known the alleged ringleader, Colonel Mohammed Maaji for less than a year.
He said they were linked through an intermediary identified as Sanda, to offer spiritual support for the plot.
The defendant added that Sanda informed him that his “Oga” intended to stage a coup and needed prayers regarding its likely success.
The defendant told investigators that after conducting the prayers, he told them that the plan would fail as two persons would eventually expose those involved.
He said after his warning, the plotters came back for more prayers those two individuals from sabotaging the coup plot.
Sheikh Sani further revealed that money was later transferred to him both for prayers and charity, with names of alleged participants in the coup forwarded for inclusion.
The defendant said he learnt of arrest of some of the coup plotters through media reports after Sanda had informed him that Col. Maaji had been unreachable.
He insisted that funds he received were strictly for prayers and not in support of any coup attempt, adding that he could not expose the plot because he did not know who to report to.
The defendant, in the video recording, said he was arrested after he visited the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to resolve restrictions placed on his bank account.
He denied making any coup-related statement while in EFCC custody, adding that he was neither assaulted nor tortured.
Meanwhile, when the prosecution counsel moved to tender extra-judicial statements made by all six defendants before a Special Investigation Panel and military police authorities, in evidence, their lawyers opposed.
They challenged the admissibility of the statement on the premise that they were not made voluntarily but through coercion, in violation of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.
The defence lawyers further contended that their clients were not afforded their right to legal representation during the interrogation, insisting there were discrepancies between video recordings and the defendants’ written statements.
Even though the prosecution urged the court to dismiss the objections, Justice Abdulmalik ordered a trial-within-trial to ascertain the voluntariness of the extra-judicial statements sought to be tendered.
