The trial of three men accused of allegedly spying on American and Israeli embassies in Nigeria for individuals linked to Iran has been stepped up, with the Federal High Court in Abuja granting an accelerated hearing.
Justice Emeka Nwite made the order on Wednesday following an oral application by prosecuting counsel Bello Abu, which was not opposed by defence lawyers.
The defendants, Haruna Ali Abbas, Ibrahim Hussaini Musa, and Adam Suleiman, were arrested in Kano and Lagos States in 2013.
At the hearing, a Department of State Services (DSS) operative, James Simon, who testified as the first prosecution witness, told the court that Abbas admitted being recruited to monitor the interests of the United States and Israel in Nigeria.
Simon said one of the suspects confessed to the operation and also revealed how he recruited others into the network.
Under cross-examination, the witness said he recorded Abbas’ statement in which details of the alleged activities were outlined.
He told the court that from the statement, Iranian military personnel trained the defendants in surveillance and related operations.
According to him, “their involvement in such an act, even if you are not formally branded as a terrorist organisation, still amounts to the act of terrorism”.
He also stated that “the act of involvement of non-military personnel in surveillance, recruitment of persons and even weapon handling amounts to the act of terrorism”.
Simon questioned the nature of the training, asking that “for what purpose was their training, why will non-military personnel go outside the shores of the country to get military training”.
Reading further from Abbas’ statement, he said the defendants were trained in surveillance, counter-surveillance, information gathering, open-source intelligence, communication, and basic gun handling.
He told the court that “my mission was to send news concerning the American embassy and Israeli embassy locations”.
The witness further said Abbas confessed that “they requested three persons from among those we trusted to be sent to them for training”.
He added that “I came back to Nigeria, they gave me a mission to write open-source news to America and Israel”.
Simon also said Abbas stated that “we discussed those to come, they requested three persons from among those we trusted to be sent to them for training”.
He told the court that the defendants were also tasked with sending intelligence reports concerning the United States and Israeli interests.
Justice Nwite adjourned the matter until April 1 for further hearing.
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