DSS witness testifies against El-Rufai in alleged cybercrime trial

The Department of State Services (DSS) on Monday opened its case against former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, with its first witness testifying before the Federal High Court in Abuja over alleged breaches of the Cybercrimes Act.

The witness, identified only as “APC” for security reasons, was led in evidence by DSS counsel, Oluwole Aladedoye (SAN), before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik.

Testifying as the prosecution’s first witness (PW-1), APC told the court he monitored a live television interview granted by El-Rufai and subsequently reported statements made during the programme to his superior officer due to their alleged security implications.

The witness further stated that he downloaded the interview from YouTube, saved it on a flash drive, and generated a certificate of compliance.

The prosecution tendered the flash drive and accompanying certificate as evidence, which was admitted by the court and marked as exhibits.

The court also viewed part of the video interview aired on Arise News, in which El-Rufai recounted an encounter with DSS operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.

Read also: No breach of court order, ICPC rejects claims of denied access to El-Rufai

In the interview, the former governor alleged that Nuhu Ribadu, National Security Adviser (NSA), directed DSS operatives to arrest him following an alleged phone conversation that was reportedly monitored.

According to El-Rufai, attempts to detain him without a valid court order amounted to “abduction” rather than lawful arrest.

Proceedings were, however, briefly interrupted after the video recording experienced technical issues during playback in court.

Following an application by the prosecution for time to provide a clearer version of the recording, Justice Abdulmalik adjourned the matter until Tuesday for continuation of the trial.