A prosecution witness has told the Federal Capital Territory High Court that former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki and his co-defendants gave their statements to investigators voluntarily and without coercion.
Testifying before Justice Charles Agbaza, the third prosecution witness, Salihu Kadiri, said the defendants made their extrajudicial statements “voluntarily and under caution” during a trial-within-trial. The mini-trial was ordered by the court after defence lawyers challenged the admissibility of the statements, arguing they were not made voluntarily and therefore breached provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.
Dasuki is being prosecuted alongside Aminu Baba Kusa, Acacia Holdings Limited, and Reliance Referral Hospital Limited by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over an alleged N33.2 billion fraud involving breach of trust and dishonesty.
Led in evidence by prosecution counsel Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, Kadiri told the court: “The defendant made his statement voluntarily after words of caution were read to him.”
Under cross-examination by defence counsel Solomon Umoh, SAN, the witness confirmed that records showed visits by staff of Acacia Holdings Limited to the defendants while they were in EFCC custody. However, he acknowledged that no video recording was made of the statement-taking process, noting that such was not a legal requirement at the time.
“There was a CCTV camera, but this was about 10 years ago,” he said, adding that the law did not mandate video evidence of statements.
Responding to questions from counsel to the fourth defendant, A.O. Ayodele, the witness said his signature was not required on the statement, though his handwriting appeared on the document.
Justice Agbaza adjourned the case to May 15 and 29, 2026, for the defence to open its case.
