Court Grants DSS Request for Accelerated Trial in Al-Barnawi’s UN Building Bombing Case

A Federal High Court in Abuja has approved an application from the Department of State Services (DSS) to expedite the trial of Khalid Al-Barnawi and four other individuals accused of masterminding the August 2011 bombing of the United Nations building in Abuja.

The DSS, represented by its counsel Alex Iziyon, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, requested the accelerated hearing on the grounds that the service is fully prepared to proceed and seeks a timely resolution to the case.

The application was unopposed by the defence counsels representing the defendants. As part of the expedited process, parties involved will be permitted to view video evidence presented by the DSS.

The footage is intended to demonstrate that statements obtained from the defendants were made voluntarily, countering claims by some of the accused that their confessions were coerced.

Justice Nwite, presiding over the matter, has adjourned the case until October 23 and 24 for the continuation of a trial-within-trial to examine the admissibility of the contested evidence.

Al-Barnawi and his co-defendants, Mohammed Bashir Saleh, Umar Mohammed Bello (also known as Datti), Mohammed Salisu, and Yakubu Nuhu (alias Bello Maishayi), face multiple terrorism-related charges. They are alleged to be members of the Ansaru terrorist group, also identified as Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis Sudan.

The defendants are accused of conspiring to carry out acts of terrorism across several northern states, including Sokoto, Kebbi, Bauchi, Borno, and Gombe, between 2011 and 2013. Al-Barnawi, who was arrested by the DSS in Lokoja, Kogi State, in April 2016, was previously designated a global terrorist by the United States, which had offered a $5 million bounty for information leading to his capture.

The 2011 attack on the UN building, the first of its kind on an international organisation in Nigeria, resulted in more than 20 fatalities and over 70 injuries.

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cc:  Daily Post NG