The Federal High Court in Abuja on Tuesday ordered the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate allegations by the prosecution that part of the evidence tendered in court and served on lawyers representing the defendants had been circulated on social media.

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik also directed that if any material posted online contravened the court’s earlier witness-protection order, the DSS should investigate and bring those responsible to justice.

The judge held that the investigation should proceed while the trial continued, noting that all the defendants, through their lawyers, had denied involvement.

Counsel to the prosecution, Chief Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, midway through the proceedings, informed the court that he had received information that some videos tendered in the case had been posted on social media by a content creator identified as VeryDarkMan.

He told the court that the individual was also present in the courtroom gallery.

Oyedepo urged the court to order an investigation to determine how the materials came into the possession of VeryDarkMan.

When asked by the court to respond, all six defence lawyers denied any involvement.

Some of the lawyers urged Oyedepo to file a formal application supported by an affidavit to enable them to respond appropriately.

The court subsequently heard the bail applications filed by the defendants.

While defence counsel urged the court to grant bail on liberal terms, the prosecution asked that the applications be dismissed.

Justice Abdulmalik thereafter adjourned proceedings until June 25 and June 30 for the first, second, and third defendants to conduct their defence in the trial-within-trial. The fourth, fifth, and sixth defendants are scheduled to open their defence on July 1 and July 2.

The court also fixed July 20 for ruling on the bail applications.

Earlier, the prosecution sought the admission in evidence of statements made by the defendants to investigators.

The fourth prosecution witness in the trial-within-trial, conducted to determine the voluntariness or otherwise of the statements, told the court that the defendants made the statements voluntarily and were not subjected to torture or harassment.

The witness, identified only as “DDD”, was led in evidence by Chief Oyedepo and denied all allegations raised by the defendants, including claims that they had been tortured into making the statements, in which five of them, excluding the first defendant, allegedly admitted knowledge of the plot.

Responding to claims that the defendants’ legs had been chained, the witness said:

“It is not true. The feet of the defendants were not chained. They walked into the interview room by themselves.”

He added that if the allegation were true, the sound of chains would have been audible in the video played in court earlier on Tuesday.

On why lawyers were absent during the interviews, the witness stated that none of the defendants requested the presence of legal counsel, family members, officials of the Legal Aid Council, or a Justice of the Peace.

He urged the court to admit the statements and audio-visual recordings of the interview sessions as evidence for the purposes of the trial.

Under cross-examination by defence counsel, the witness reiterated that the statements were not made in the presence of lawyers, family members, Legal Aid Council officials, or a Justice of the Peace.

He, however, maintained that the defendants were neither tortured nor compelled to make the statements.

At the close of cross-examination, Chief Oyedepo announced the closure of the prosecution’s case in the trial-within-trial after calling four witnesses.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the six defendants are standing trial over their alleged involvement in a plot to overthrow the administration of President Bola Tinubu.