A prosecution witness in the ongoing trial-within-trial involving suspects accused of plotting to overthrow the government of President Bola Tinubu has told a Federal High Court in Abuja that the defendants made their confessional statements voluntarily.
The witness, an officer of the Nigerian Army Corps of Military Police, testified on Tuesday before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik.
The trial-within-trial followed objections raised by defence lawyers against the Federal Government’s attempt to tender video recordings of the defendants’ extra-judicial statements.
The defence had argued that the statements were obtained under duress.
Counsel to the Federal Government, Rotimi Oyedepo, told the court that the prosecution had three witnesses lined up for the proceeding.
While giving evidence, the witness stated that the defendants were calm during interrogation and fully aware of their constitutional rights before making statements.
He added that investigators complied with the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, and standard investigative procedures.
The prosecution subsequently tendered statements allegedly obtained from the six defendants, alongside an external hard drive and a flash drive containing video recordings of the interrogations.
The court admitted the materials as exhibits after defence counsel raised no objection during the trial-within-trial.
The witness told the court that none of the suspects was denied access to legal representation and that they were informed of their right to remain silent.
Speaking on retired Major-General Mohammed Gana, the first defendant, the witness described him as calm throughout the interrogation process.
He said Gana was informed that any statement made could be used in court and maintained that the video recordings showed no signs of intimidation, coercion or inducement.
Addressing discrepancies between oral interviews and written statements, the witness said written accounts could not be exact reproductions of spoken words.
“Human beings are not computers,” he told the court.
He gave similar testimony concerning retired naval captain Erasmus Victor, the second defendant, insisting that his statement was also made voluntarily.
The witness further testified that an interpreter was provided for the sixth defendant, an Islamic cleric, because he could not communicate fluently in English.
According to him, the suspect’s statements were translated between Hausa and English before being read back for confirmation.
Under cross-examination, the witness admitted he was not a member of the special investigative panel but only participated intermittently in the investigation.
He also acknowledged that the video recordings shown in court related only to statements taken before the military police and not those obtained by the investigative panel.
The witness further confirmed that none of the statements bore endorsements by lawyers and that no legal practitioners, civil society representatives or justices of the peace were present during the recordings.
However, he maintained that all the defendants were informed of their right to legal representation but did not request lawyers during interrogation.
Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the matter until May 13 for continuation of the trial-within-trial.
The Federal Government, through the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, is prosecuting six suspects over an alleged plot to topple the Tinubu-led administration.