0
0
The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday granted an accelerated hearing in the ongoing trial of three terror suspects accused of spying on American and Israeli embassies in Nigeria on behalf of individuals in Iran.
Justice Emeka Nwite issued the order following an oral application by prosecuting counsel, Bello Abu, which was not opposed by the defence. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the three defendants — Haruna Ali Abbas, Ibrahim Hussaini Musa, and Adam Suleiman — were arrested in Kano and Lagos states in 2013.
At Wednesday’s proceedings, a prosecution witness told the court that Abbas admitted he was recruited to spy on the interests of the United States and Israel in Nigeria, particularly their embassies.
The witness, a senior official of the Department of State Services (DSS) identified as James Simon, disclosed that one of those recruited confessed to the operation and explained how he, in turn, recruited others.
Simon, who testified as the first prosecution witness (PW-1), had earlier been cross-examined on Tuesday by Abbas’ counsel, Aliyu Yauri.
He told the court that he recorded Abbas’ statement, in which the first defendant detailed his involvement and how he assisted Iranians in recruiting other Nigerians.
According to the witness, Abbas stated that Iranian military personnel trained some Nigerians, including the defendants, in acts of terrorism.
When asked by defence counsel whether he would consider the Iranian military personnel to be members of a terrorist group, Simon responded that although he did not personally know them, “their involvement in such acts — training Nigerians in terrorism — amounts to terrorism, even if they are not formally designated as a terrorist organisation.”
