Court Orders DSS Probe Into Alleged Leak of Coup Trial Evidence on Social Media
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has directed the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate allegations that evidence tendered in the ongoing trial of six men accused of plotting to overthrow the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was leaked and circulated on social media.
The judge issued the directive on Monday following claims by the prosecution that some video exhibits admitted during proceedings had surfaced online despite an earlier court order aimed at protecting witnesses and preserving the integrity of the trial.
Justice Abdulmalik ordered the DSS to determine how the materials found their way to social media platforms and identify anyone responsible for any breach of the court’s directives.
She stated that the investigation should proceed concurrently with the trial and stressed that anyone found culpable should be brought to justice.
The issue arose after the Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation (DPPF), Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), informed the court that video evidence tendered by the prosecution had allegedly been published on social media by a popular online personality, Martins Otse, widely known as VeryDarkMan.
Oyedepo told the court that the social media commentator was present in the courtroom and urged the judge to order an investigation into how the materials reached him.
When invited to respond, lawyers representing the six defendants denied any involvement in the alleged leak. Some of the defence counsel challenged the prosecution to file a formal application supported by an affidavit to substantiate the allegation.
Meanwhile, proceedings continued in the trial-within-trial initiated by the court to determine whether statements made by the defendants to investigators were voluntarily obtained.
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The prosecution’s fourth witness, identified only as “DDD” for security reasons, maintained that the statements sought to be tendered in evidence were voluntarily made and not obtained through torture, coercion, or intimidation.
Led in evidence by Oyedepo, the witness rejected allegations by the defendants that they were subjected to physical abuse or forced to make confessional statements.
He specifically denied claims that the defendants’ legs were chained during interrogation.
“It is not true. The defendants walked into the interview room by themselves. If they had been chained, the sound would have been audible in the video recordings played before the court,” the witness said.
He also told the court that none of the defendants requested the presence of legal representatives, family members, officials of the Legal Aid Council, or a Justice of the Peace during the interview sessions.
The witness urged the court to admit both the written statements and the audio-visual recordings of the interrogations as evidence in the substantive trial.
Under cross-examination by defence lawyers, the witness acknowledged that the statements were not made in the presence of lawyers, relatives, Legal Aid officials, or a Justice of the Peace, but maintained that the defendants were neither threatened nor compelled to make them.
Following the conclusion of the witness’s testimony, Oyedepo announced the closure of the prosecution’s case in the trial-within-trial after calling four witnesses.
The court subsequently heard applications for bail filed on behalf of the six defendants. While defence lawyers urged the court to grant bail on liberal terms, the prosecution opposed the requests and asked that the applications be dismissed.
Justice Abdulmalik adjourned proceedings to June 25 and June 30 for the first, second, and third defendants to open their defence in the trial-within-trial.
The fourth, fifth, and sixth defendants are scheduled to present their defence on July 1 and July 2.
The court also fixed July 20 for ruling on the various bail applications.
By PRNigeria
