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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
A prosecution witness of the Department of State Services (DSS), Mr James Simon, has told a Federal High Court that three suspected terrorists admitted spying on American and Israeli embassies for the Republic of Iran for an alleged terrorist attack.
The three suspects are Haruna Ali Abbas, Ibrahim Hussein Musa and Adam Suleiman.
In his evidence before Justice Emeka Nwite, the witness said the defendants confessed to the crime during interrogations and in their extrajudicial statements made upon their arrest.
Simon, a Deputy Director with the DSS, who read the extrajudicial statement of the first defendant, Haruna Abbas, in open court, explained that the defendant admitted being the arrowhead in their trip to Iran, where they received training on handling weapons and gathering open-source intelligence on America and Israel for Iran.
Speaking under cross-examination by counsel, Aliyu Yawuru, the witness told the court that the involvement of non-military personnel in surveillance, recruitment of persons and handling of weapons amounts to acts of terrorism.
The witness said the mission of the defendants, as contained in their statements, was to carry out surveillance and gather information on American and Israeli embassies.
According to the statement, the defendant said, “Upon arrival in Iran, we were taken to a two-storey building, and from there, we were taken to an Iranian military barracks where we were trained on gun shootings.
“They requested another three trusted persons to be sent to them for training, but we were arrested upon arrival in Nigeria.”
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One of the pieces of information the defendants gave, according to the witness, was that the Israeli government provided the Kwara State Government with support in agriculture.
The witness quoted the first defendant as saying in his extrajudicial statement that, “His mission was to send news concerning the American Embassy and the Embassy of Israel.
Meanwhile, the court has adjourned till April 4 for continuation of the cross-examination of the witness (PW1).
According to the charge, marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/129/2014, Abbas was said to have been arrested on March 16, 2013, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, on his way from Lebanon.
Abbas is accused of recruiting young Nigerians, including Musa and Suleiman, for terrorism training in Iran.
He is also accused of participating in terrorist meetings and is equally alleged to have rendered support to an act of terrorism by agreeing to send persons for terrorist training in Iran.
Abbas is equally accused of “embarking on an act preparatory to an act of terrorism by compiling a list of American and Israeli concerns in Lagos, and their locations on a map, which included the USA Consular office in Lagos and sent them to one Abu Ali in Iran using coded language with encryption software through his email addresses.”
On their part, Musa and Suleiman are charged with “conspiracy to do an act preparatory to an act of terrorism by obtaining Nigeria’s international passport and Iranian visa for the purpose of travelling to Iran for terrorist training.”
