Nyanya blasts: Court orders trial within trial

Following the objection to the admissibility of the statements of the alleged masterminds of the April 14, 2014 Nyanya bomb blasts in Abuja, as exhibits by their counsel, a Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday ordered a trial within trial.

The accused persons – Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche, Ahmed Abubakar, Mohammed Ishaq, Ya’u Saidu (alias Kofar Rama); Anas Isa, Adamu Yusuf and Nasir Abubakar – are facing charges bothering on terrorism.

At the resumed hearing of the matter, the prosecution counsel, Mohammed Diri, sought to tender the statements of the accused persons through the first prosecution witness, but was objected to by counsel to the accused persons led by Ahmed Raji (SAN).

Raji, in his submission, told the court that the statement of the first accused person, Aminu Sadiq Ogwuche, was taken after he was beaten and severely tortured.

He said the statement was not voluntarily given and hence should not be admitted as evidence by the court.

In the same vein, counsel to the second accused person, Abdul Mohammed, urged the court not to admit the statement of his client as it was obtained under severe torture.

Mohammed then prayed the court to conduct trial-within-trial to ascertain the voluntariness of the statements of the accused persons, which the prosecution sought to tender.

Counsel to the rest accused persons aligned themselves with the submissions of Raji and Mohammed and prayed court to order trial-within-trial in the matter.

Responding, the prosecution counsel urged the trial Judge, Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed, to discountenance the submissions of the defence counsel, adding that the statements of all the accused persons were voluntarily obtained, contrary to the submissions of defence counsel.

Justice Mohammed adjourned till June 2 and 3, 2015 to commence the trial-within-trial in the matter to ascertain the voluntariness of the confessional statements of the accused persons.

It will be recalled that the Federal Government on Tuesday said it will tender 37 documentary evidence and call five witnesses in the trial of the Nyanya bomb blasts suspects.

The First Prosecution witness, an investigator with the Department of State Security, told the court that ‎he knew Ogwuche in 2011 when he was deported from the United Kingdom for belonging to a terrorism group group there.

The witness also told the court how he obtained the statements of all the accused persons at various time, adding also that the accused persons gave their statements voluntarily.