The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has granted an application brought forward by the Department of State Services (DSS) seeking to expedite the trial of Khalid Al-Barnawi, the suspected mastermind of the 26 August 2011 bombing of the United Nations building in Abuja, along with four co-defendants.
At the hearing, DSS counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Alex Iziyon, moved the application for an accelerated hearing, asserting the agency’s readiness to ensure a swift determination of the case. The application faced no opposition from the defence counsels.
The trial, which is currently at the stage of a trial-within-trial—a legal process to determine the admissibility of confessional statements—is expected to feature video recordings provided by the DSS. These recordings are intended to demonstrate that the extrajudicial statements made by the accused were given voluntarily, contrary to some of the defendants’ claims of coercion.
Justice Nwite, presiding over the case, adjourned proceedings until 23 and 24 October for continuation of the trial-within-trial.
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Al-Barnawi is facing terrorism-related charges alongside four alleged members of his group: Mohammed Bashir Saleh, Umar Mohammed Bello (alias Datti), Mohammed Salisu, and Yakubu Nuhu (alias Bello Maishayi). They are accused of being operatives of the proscribed Ansaru terrorist organisation, formally known as Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis Sudan.
The prosecution alleges that between 2011 and 2013, the defendants conspired to carry out terrorist activities across several northern Nigerian states, including Sokoto, Kebbi, Bauchi, Borno, and Gombe. They are also linked to the 2012 attack on a maximum-security prison in Abuja, during which dozens of inmates were reportedly freed.
Al-Barnawi, one of Nigeria’s most wanted terror suspects, was arrested by the DSS in April 2016 in Lokoja, Kogi State—five years after the bombing of the UN building in Abuja. The attack marked the first major terrorist assault on an international organisation in Nigeria, resulting in the deaths of more than 20 people and injuries to over 70 others.
In response to his suspected role in international terrorism, the United States government placed a $5 million (£3.5 million) bounty on Al-Barnawi, declaring him one of three Nigerian individuals designated as “specially designated global terrorists”.
The resumption of trial in October is expected to bring further clarity to the complex and high-profile case, which has remained one of the most significant terrorism prosecutions in Nigeria’s recent history.
