Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria — A Federal High Court in Abuja, the capital of Nigeria, on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, granted an accelerated hearing in the trial of three men accused of carrying out surveillance on diplomatic missions belonging to the United States of America and Israel in Nigeria.
Okay News reports that Justice Emeka Nwite approved the request for a speedy hearing after an oral application by prosecuting counsel Bello Abu. Defence lawyers did not oppose the application, prompting the court to order an expedited process.
The case involves three defendants identified as Haruna Ali Abbas, Ibrahim Hussaini Musa and Adam Suleiman. According to court proceedings, they were arrested in 2013 in Kano State, north-western Nigeria, and Lagos State, south-western Nigeria.
During testimony, a senior official of Nigeria’s Department of State Services, the country’s domestic intelligence agency, identified as James Simon, appeared as the first prosecution witness. He told the court that Abbas admitted he was recruited to gather intelligence on the interests of the United States of America and Israel, particularly their embassies in Nigeria.
Simon said Abbas explained how he was recruited and how he later helped bring in other Nigerians. He added that Abbas stated in his confession that some Nigerians, including the defendants, were trained in Iran by individuals he described as Iranian military personnel.
Responding to questions during cross examination by defence counsel Aliyu Yauri, the witness stated: “Their involvement in such an act (of training Nigerians in the act of terrorism), even if you are not formally branded as a terrorist organisation, still amounts to the act of terrorism.”
He further told the court: “The act of involvement of non-military personnel in surveillance, recruitment of persons and even weapon handling amounts to the act of terrorism. The question should be, for what purpose was their training? Why will non-military personnel go outside the shores of the country to get military training?”
Simon said Abbas described training that included surveillance, recruitment, information security, communication, open source intelligence and a one day session on gun handling. He also read a portion of Abbas’ statement which said, “My mission was to send news concerning the American embassy and Israeli embassy locations.”
According to the witness, Abbas also claimed he was instructed to recruit others and send intelligence relating to American and Israeli interests. Another part of the statement read: “And we discussed those to come. They requested three persons from among those we trusted to be sent to them for training.”
The court also heard that Abbas allegedly said he was tasked with sending open source intelligence and arranging travel for additional recruits.
Justice Nwite adjourned the case until Wednesday, April 1, 2026, for continuation of hearing.
In related proceedings, another defendant in a separate terrorism case linked to the June 5, 2022 attack at St Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, south-western Nigeria, told the court he could not read or write in English and therefore did not personally write his statement. He however said he received medical attention while in custody.
