The federal government yesterday filed further application for the concealment of identity of witnesses in the ongoing terrorism trial of a Kogi State university lecturer and two others in a Federal High Court in Abuja.
The three accused persons, Muhammed Nazeef Yusuf (PhD), Salami Abdullahi (businessman) and Musa Umar were on February 3 arraigned by the Attorney General of the Federation on an eight counts charge bordering on conspiracy and terrorism over alleged plot to attack Kogi State.
The presiding judge, Gabriel Kolawole had on April 3 ruled that the court can only provide logistics to shield the face of witnesses from public view while testifying during the trial. He also directed that the witnesses could use acronyms in place of their real names and the addresses of the State Security Service (SSS) in place of their original addresses.
At the resumed hearing, a counsel from the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), N.B. Jones-Nebo brought an application for variation of the order of the court. She sought full concealment of the identity of witnesses through facial masks.
But defence counsels Hassan Liman (SAN), James Ocholi (SAN) and Abdul Muhammed opposed the applications, arguing that it was meant to delay the trial. They urged the court to admit the accused persons on bail because one of the reasons for refusing them bail was an undertaking by prosecution for accelerated trial.
After listening to the counsels, the judge adjourned the case to May 14 for hearing.
