A witness for the Department of State Services, DSS, Mr James Simon, on Wednesday told a Federal High Court in Abuja that three terrorism suspects on trial admitted to spying on American and Israeli embassies for the Republic of Iran in preparation for alleged terrorist attacks.
The witness informed Justice Emeka Nwite that the defendants, Haruna Ali Abbas, Ibrahim Hussein Musa and Adam Suleiman, confessed to the offences during interrogations and in their extra judicial statements following their arrest.
Simon, a Deputy Director with the DSS, while reading the statement of the first defendant, Haruna Abbas, in open court, said Abbas admitted leading the group on a trip to Iran where they received training in weapon handling and gathering open source intelligence on America and Israel for Iran.
During cross examination by defence counsel, Aliyu Yawuru, the witness maintained that the involvement of non military personnel in surveillance, recruitment and weapon handling constitutes acts of terrorism.
He further told the court that the defendants’ mission, as contained in their statements, was to conduct surveillance and gather intelligence on American and Israeli embassies.
According to the statement, the first defendant said, “Upon arrival in Iran, we were taken to a 2 story building and from there, we were taken to an Iranian Military barrack 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”.
The witness also revealed that one of the pieces of information provided by the defendants was that the Israeli government had supported the Kwara State government in agriculture.
He quoted the first defendant as stating in his extra judicial statement, “His mission was to send news concerning American Embassy and the Embassy of Isreal.”
The court subsequently adjourned the matter until April 4 for continuation of cross examination of the witness.
According to the charge marked FHC ABJ CR 129 2014, Abbas was arrested on March 16, 2013 at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, while returning from Lebanon.
He is accused of recruiting young Nigerians, including Musa and Suleiman, for terrorism training in Iran.
Abbas is also alleged to have participated in terrorist meetings and provided support for acts of terrorism by agreeing to send individuals for training in Iran.
He is further 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 in 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.”
Musa and Suleiman, on their part, 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.”
