Exposed: Nigerian ‘working for Iran’ confesses spying on US, Israeli embassies

The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered an accelerated hearing in the trial of three men accused of spying on United States and Israeli interests in Nigeria for contacts linked to Iran, in a case that is now raising fresh concerns about foreign intelligence activity on Nigerian soil.

Justice Emeka Nwite granted the request on Wednesday following an oral application by prosecuting counsel, Bello Abu, which was not opposed by the defence.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the defendants, Haruna Abbas, Ibrahim Musa and Adam Suleiman were arrested in Kano and Lagos States in 2013.

At the resumed hearing, a prosecution witness from the Department of State Services (DSS), James Simon, told the court that Abbas admitted he was recruited to spy on American and Israeli interests in Nigeria, particularly their embassies.

Simon, who testified as the first prosecution witness, said he personally recorded Abbas’ statement, in which the defendant detailed how he gathered intelligence, passed information, and recruited other Nigerians into the operation.

According to the witness, Abbas also revealed that he travelled to Iran, where he and others were trained by unidentified military personnel. The training, the court heard, covered surveillance, counter-surveillance, intelligence gathering, recruitment, communication, and a brief session on weapon handling.

He told the court that the nature of such training and assignments clearly points to terrorism, regardless of whether those involved are formally designated.

“The act of involvement of non-military personnel in surveillance, recruitment of persons and even weapon handling amounts to the act of terrorism,” the witness said.

“The question should be, for what purpose were their training? Why will non-military personnel go outside the shores of the country to get military training?”

Reading from Abbas’ confessional statement, the DSS official said the defendant admitted his mission included sending information about the locations of American and Israeli embassies, as well as identifying companies linked to both countries.

He further told the court that Abbas confessed to being tasked with recruiting other Nigerians for similar training in Iran and facilitating their travel.

“My mission was to send news concerning the American embassy and Israeli embassy locations,” the witness quoted from the statement.

“I came back to Nigeria, they gave me a mission to write open source news to America and Israel.”

The court also heard that Abbas allegedly coordinated plans to send at least three more recruits to Iran for training, continuing what prosecutors describe as a structured intelligence network.

Under cross-examination by defence counsel, Aliyu Yauri, questions were raised over whether the Iranian trainers could be classified as terrorists. However, the DSS witness insisted that their actions — particularly training civilians in surveillance and weapons — amount to terrorism in effect.

Justice Nwite adjourned the matter to April 1 for continuation of hearing.