The Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, admitted written statements and video recordings of six alleged coup plotters as valid evidence on Thursday, November 5, 2026. ​The ruling followed a contested trial-within-a-trial in which the court formally dismissed objections raised by the defence team.
Counsel for the accused had claimed that the extrajudicial statements and video evidence were unlawfully obtained through torture, coercion, and inducement during military interrogation. ​
Defence counsel argued that the interrogation sessions violated key provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, alleging that the defendants were denied access to legal representation while in custody and pointing to alleged discrepancies between video logs and written transcripts. ​
However, in her detailed judicial findings, Justice Abdulmalik held that the defendants failed to substantiate their claims of physical or psychological mistreatment with concrete evidence. Describing the allegations of duress as an “afterthought,” the judge affirmed that the materials were provided voluntarily by the suspects during questioning. ​
The prosecution, acting through the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), established the voluntariness of the tendered exhibits through four prosecution witnesses. Among them was a military officer identified under the codename Witness AAA, who presented the recorded video sessions directly to the court.
​The six defendants—Major General Mohammed Gana (Retd.), Navy Captain Erasmus Victor (Retd.), Inspector Ahmed Ibrahim, Zekeri Umoru, Bukar Goni, and Abdulkadir Sani, were originally arraigned on April 22, 2026, on a 13-count charge under suit number FHC/ABJ/CR/206/2026.
The charges against them include treason, terrorism, failure to disclose security intelligence, and money laundering linked to terrorism financing. ​Following the admission of the video recordings and written statements into the court record as exhibits, Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the case to December 7 and 10, 2026, for the continuation of the trial.
