The General Court Martial (GCM) on the trial of the 36 military personnel arrested over last year’s alleged coup plot in Nigeria will resume on May 8, 2026 but it will be behind closed doors, with no media access, Director of Defence Information (DDI), Major General Samaila Uba, told AFP.
Also, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Monday restrained journalists from covering the bail proceedings of six defendants accused of plotting a coup against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government.
Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) reportedly ordered reporters to leave the courtroom shortly before the trial Judge, Justice Joyce Abdulmalik, took her seat. The order was said to have come from the Judge.
The General Court Martial was “inaugurated” on Friday with 36 officers brought before the newly sworn-in justices for the opening of the proceedings at held at the Scorpion Mess, Asokoro, Abuja.
General Uba said the next sitting will also be “held behind closed doors, with no media access.”
The journalists, at the resumed hearing at the Federal High Court, complied with the order of the judge and exited the courtroom.
The barring of the journalists is coming after heightened public interest in the trial of the six defendants, who were arraigned last Wednesday by the Federal Government (FG) over an alleged failed coup.
Those standing trial are Major General Mohammed Ibrahim Gana (rtd); Captain Erasmus Victor (rtd); Ahmed Ibrahim (Police Inspector); and Zekeri Umoru (an electrician at the Presidential Villa, Abuja). Others include Bukar Goni and Abdulkadir Sani (Zaria-based Islamic clerics).
They have pleaded not guilty.