A Federal High Court in Abuja has approved the Department of State Services’ (DSS) request for an accelerated hearing in the trial of terror suspect Khalid Al-Barnawi and four others, accused of involvement in the August 26, 2011 bombing of the United Nations building in Abuja.
Justice Emeka Nwite granted the application on Friday, September 12, after it was filed by the DSS through its lawyer, Alex Izinyon (SAN). Al-Barnawi was arrested by the DSS in April 2016 in Lokoja, Kogi State, five years after the attack, which killed over 20 people and injured more than 70, marking the first such strike on an international agency’s property in Nigeria.
Izinyon told the court that the request for a speedy hearing was prompted by the prosecution’s readiness to ensure the case is promptly resolved. The application, unopposed by defence lawyers, allows video recordings submitted by the DSS to be played in court as evidence that the defendants’ extrajudicial statements were made voluntarily.
The defendants had claimed they were coerced into making the statements, prompting the court to conduct a trial-within-trial to examine the validity of their confessions. The videos will be reviewed in the presence of the court registrar, and parties will take notes before returning to court on October 23 and 24 for the continuation of proceedings.
The main trial began shortly after Al-Barnawi’s arrest but faced multiple legal and administrative delays. Al-Barnawi, also known by aliases including Kafuri, Naziru, Alhaji Yahaya, Mallam Dauda, and Alhaji Tanimu, is believed to be a founding member of the Boko Haram faction Jama’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid Da’wah Wa’l-Jihad and later became the leader of its breakaway group, Jama’at Ansarul Muslimim Fi Biladi Sudan (JAMBS).
