₦10bn Fraud Trial: Court Orders Police, DSS to Probe Alleged Evidence Tampering
Justice J. K. Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, on Thursday, February 5, 2026, ordered the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate alleged tampering with evidence in the ongoing ₦10 billion fraud trial involving Ali Bello.
The investigation will cover the court’s Registrar, Nasiru Onimisi Zubairu, and the second defendant, Daudu Sulaiman, over alleged manipulation of Exhibits N and O—a mobile phone containing WhatsApp conversations admitted as evidence.
The order followed a disclosure by Justice Omotosho that the Registrar had confessed to him that the second defendant approached him to assist in deleting critical WhatsApp messages from the phone deposited with the court, using a code to wipe off the chats.
In open court, the judge played the Registrar’s confession and directed him to narrate the events leading to the alleged deletion. Justice Omotosho explained that the disclosure was in line with the Federal High Court’s policy of early discovery and transparency.
“We have zero tolerance for this kind of attitude. The person involved is here, and you will hear from the horse’s mouth,” the judge said.
Testifying before the court, Zubairu stated that Daudu Sulaiman approached him and promised to provide accommodation in exchange for deleting certain WhatsApp messages contained in the exhibits. He admitted opening the chats but claimed he could not remember the specific messages deleted.
Following the revelation, the prosecution counsel, the Director of Public Prosecution, Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, was permitted to direct the lead investigating officer, Mohammed Audu Abubakar of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to verify whether the chats had indeed been deleted.
Abubakar informed the court that multiple WhatsApp conversations spanning between 2020 and 2022 had been deleted from the device. He cited several missing chats referencing large cash movements, including entries allegedly indicating the transfer of millions of naira on different dates.
Under further questioning, the EFCC operative confirmed that numerous messages he encountered during the investigation were no longer present on the phone, reinforcing claims that critical information contained in Exhibit N had been tampered with.
Reacting to the development, Oyedepo urged the court to order an urgent forensic investigation of the exhibit and to revoke the defendant’s bail, citing what he described as “irresistible suspicion” of evidence tampering.
Defence counsel, while expressing shock at the allegations, urged the court to await the outcome of the forensic investigation before taking further action.
In his ruling, Justice Omotosho ordered the Nigeria Police Force and the DSS to investigate the matter and submit their findings to the court. He thereafter adjourned the case to February 9, 2026, for continuation of trial.
