Nigerian Govt begins trial of another 400 suspected terrorists

The office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) in conjunction with the Department of State Services, DSS, will today, Monday, June 15 begin a full scale trial of over 400 terrorism suspects implicated in the recent wave of terror attacks in some parts of the country. 

The suspects are to be put on trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja before selected Judges assembled for the task by the Chief Judge of the Court, Honourable Justice John Tsoho. 

A notice to that effect, sighted by DAILY POST correspondent, showed that the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, Prince Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi will lead a team of legal practitioners on behalf of the federal government for the prosecution. 

Fagbemi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) will also be supported by the Director of the Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, while some of the suspects will be defended by lawyers from the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria. 

 The trial notice served on some lawyers and litigants involved in other matters slated for the week, indicated that the Federal High Court in Abuja will not be in session from Monday, June 15, 2026, through Thursday, June 18, 2026 for such other matters. 

According to the notice, the courts will solely be in session for terrorism cases to be handled by a Special Task Force of the Chief Judge. 

It indicated further that all other cases slated for June 15 to 19 would be shifted to different dates that would be comminicated to them. 

At the time of this report, the over 400 terror suspects have been moved from the Military detention facility in Kainji, Niger state to the DSS detention facility in Abuja to ensure their early arrival in court, as well as hitch-free arraignment. 

The distribution of the cases showed that each Judge is expected to try not less than 64 suspects during the five-day rigorous trial. 

It will be recalled that the AGF who successfully led prosecution of about 500 suspects two months ago in Abuja had told newsmen that the second batch of suspects would face trial in June. 

Fagbemi assured that the trial would be fair, just and transparent in the interest of justice to the Nigeria nation, the defendants and the public. 

Our correspondent observed that security has been buffed up around the court areas to avoid security breaches throughout the period of trial. 

Nigerian Govt begins trial of another 400 suspected terrorists