2014 BY ADE ADESOMOJU
A Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday
dismissed an application seeking facial
masking for prosecution witnesses lined up
to testify in the trial of three suspected
members of the Islamic fundamentalist sect,
Boko Haram.
The accused persons, who are being
prosecuted by the Federal Government for
terrorism charges, are an Islamic scholar and
a lecturer at the Kogi State University, Dr.
Muhammed Yunus, Salami Abdullahi (aka
Asta) and Musa Umar.
The Wednesday’s ruling was a major setback
to the case of the Federal Government, whose
witnesses had insisted they would not appear
in court without an assurance that their
identities would be fully shielded from public
view.
The prosecution counsel, Mr. Ayanfeoluwa
Ogunsina, told Justice Gabriel Kolawole after
the ruling was delivered that he needed to
make consultations before continuing the
case.
“I will have to make consultations if we have
to continue with the case of the prosecution,”
he said.
However, Justice Kolawole rejected
Ogunsina’s request to adjourn the matter till
June 24 so that the prosecution would
complete its consultation before coming to
court.
He insisted that trial would start on June 9
and continue on June 10, 24, 25 and 26 as
earlier scheduled in previous proceedings.
In his ruling on Wednesday, Justice Kolawole
held that the Federal Government’s
application, the second of such seeking
protection for its witnesses, constituted an
abuse of court process.
Apart from dismissing the prayer seeking
facial masking for prosecution witnesses, the
court also dismissed the two other prayers,
asking the court to either set aside or modify
its earlier ruling delivered on April 3, 2014.
The prosecuting counsel, Ogunsina, had filed
the application dated May 2, 2014, arguing
that the earlier ruling of the court, granting a
protection for the witnesses, was not
exhaustive.
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