The Federal High Court in Abuja has granted the Department of State Services (DSS) permission to shield the identities of witnesses in the ongoing trial of five suspected Al-Shabab terrorists accused of masterminding the massacre at St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, on June 5, 2022, where over 40 worshippers were killed and more than 100 others injured.
Delivering ruling on Tuesday in an ex-parte motion brought by the DSS, Justice Emeka Nwite held that the request was meritorious given the sensitivity of terrorism trials.
The application was argued by legal practitioner, Dr. C. S. Eze, who maintained that, “terrorism cases are so sensitive that witnesses must be protected on order of the court.”
With no opposition raised against the application, Justice Nwite ordered that the names and identities of those scheduled to testify must not be revealed in the course of the proceedings.
The five defendants standing trial are Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris, and Momoh Otuho Abubakar.
They were arraigned on 11 August on a nine-count terrorism charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/301/2025, filed by the DSS.
The charge alleges that the men are members of the Al-Shabab terrorist organisation, operating a cell in Kogi State, and that the Owo church massacre was carried out in furtherance of their religious ideology.
All five defendants pleaded not guilty when the charge was read to them in court.