An operative of the Department of State Services (DSS) has told the Federal High Court in Abuja, that two suspected commanders of the Ansaru terror group standing trial for alleged terrorism in the country had weapons training in Libya.
The operative, whose identity is withheld for security reasons, testified before Justice Emeka Nwite on Monday, while being led in evidence by ounsel to the prosecution, David Kaswe.
Testifying as the first prosecution witness, he said the defendants admitted that foreign instructors in Libya trained them on how to handle weapons and manufacture Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
He added that the instructors were from Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria.
Mahmud Usman and Abubakar Abba, the defendants, are facing terrorism-related charges.
The witness told the court that Usman was arrested after intelligence reports identified him as the leader of Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis Sudan (Ansaru).
He added that Abba was arrested by DSS operatives at the Ugwan Musa bypass in the Kaduna north Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
According to the witness, the defendants admitted to being members of Ansaru, which he described as a breakaway faction of Boko Haram allegedly involved in terrorism, kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery and illegal mining across several parts of the country.
He said the suspects also confessed that meetings held in 2012 led to the establishment of the Ansaru group in Jigawa state.
The witness further told the court that Abba admitted to participating in a 2020 attack on a Nigerian Army formation in Wawa, which allegedly led to the death of several soldiers.
He said the defendants also confessed to kidnapping Alhaji Musa Umar Uba, an in-law of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari, as well as an immigration officer and customs personnel.
The DSS operative added that Abba also admitted to swearing allegiance to Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), which allegedly supplied the group with arms and ammunition.
During the proceedings, Bala Dakum, counsel to the defendants, opposed the admissibility of the defendants’ confessional statements.
However, the prosecution insisted that the statements were obtained voluntarily and in the presence of a lawyer from the Legal Aid Council in line with the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.
In a ruling, the judge ordered a trial within a trial to determine whether the confessional statements are admissible in evidence.
The judge subsequently adjourned the case to April 13 for the trial-within-trial.
