The Federal High Court in Abuja has commenced a trial-within-trial to determine the voluntariness or otherwise of the statements made by five terror suspects linked to the 2011 bombing of the United Nations House in Abuja.

More than 20 Nigerians working at the UN Building lost their lives and over 70 others were injured during the bomb attack.

Following their arrest, the five suspects linked to the terrorism attacks made statements to operatives of the Department of the State Service DSS on their individual roles in the terror attacks.

However, at the commencement of their trial, the suspects alleged that their statements were made under duress, coercion and intimidation, prompting the trial judge, Emeka Nwite, to order trial-within- trial for the purpose of establishing the genuineness of allegations by the suspects.

At the resumed proceedings, counsel representing both the prosecution and the defense confirmed that they had jointly reviewed video recordings of the defendants’ interrogations in the presence of court officials.

The Department of State Services, DSS, also told the court that masked witnesses would testify during the trial-within-trial to address the defendants’ allegations of coercion in obtaining their statements.

The development followed an earlier ruling by Justice Emeka Nwite, granting the DSS’s request for an accelerated trial in the long-standing terrorism case.

The trial involves Khalid Al-Barnawi, alleged mastermind of the August 26, 2011 UN building bombing, which killed over 20 people and injured more than 70 others.

Al-Barnawi, arrested in 2016 in Lokoja, Kogi State by the DSS, is accused of leading a faction of the Boko Haram group known as Ansaru.

Court conducts trial-within-trial for 2011 United Nations House bombing suspects