ABUJA — The Federal High Court in Abuja has approved a request by the Department of State Services (DSS) to conceal the identities of witnesses set to testify in the trial of five men accused of masterminding the June 5, 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, where over 40 worshippers were killed and more than 100 injured.
Justice Emeka Nwite granted the application on Tuesday after it was filed and argued ex parte by DSS counsel, Dr. C. S. Eze, who stressed that shielding the witnesses was necessary to protect them from possible attacks, given the sensitivity of terrorism trials.
The judge consequently ordered that the names and identities of witnesses in the matter must not be disclosed.
The five defendants — Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris, and Momoh Otuho Abubakar — were arraigned on August 11 on a nine-count terrorism charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/301/2025.
According to the DSS, the accused are members of the Al-Shabab terrorist group, operating from a cell in Kogi State, and allegedly carried out the Owo attack in pursuit of their extremist ideology.
All five men, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges when read before the court
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