Five alleged masterminds of the bombs–Abdulazeez Muhazab, Ishaka Salihu, Mohammed Jimoh, Abdulwaheed Nasiru and Abdullahi Nasiru–are facing trial following their arraignment on October 22, 2015. At the resumed trial, on Thursday, Magaji Labaran, the prosecution counsel, told the court that it was essential to protect, mask the witnesses and conceal their identities in order to make headway with the prosecution of terrorists suspects. Labaran said: “We are not calling for a secret trial but for the witnesses to be allowed with facial masks to testify.” Justice Abdul Kafarati reserved his ruling after Nureni Sulyman, counsel to two of the defendants, opposed the applications. Earlier, Ahmed Mohammed, Oluwasegun Owa and Aliyu Momoh, counsel to three of the defendants, had said they left the application to the discretion of the court. Meanwhile, Mohammed Sulyman, counsel to the fourth defendant (Abdulwaheed Nasiru), brought an application urging the court to reverse the plea of guilty entered for his client during his arraignment on October 22. Sulyman, who made oral application to that regard, was advised by the judge to come formally through a written application. The prosecution counsel had said Sulyman wanted to obliterate the plea already made by the defendant through an oral application. “My Lord, this is a serious move to circumvent justice. This is a terrorism case and therefore the counsel must be stopped from tossing the court up and down. “We are prepared to vehemently object such application, so he should be made to comply with the rules of court by filing a written application to that respect,” Labaran said. In his ruling, Justice Kafarati noted that “this a serious prayer that requires formal application, so you may want to come by way of a written application. This will give the prosecution the ample opportunity to also file his objection,” he ruled. Picture below: 15 11]]>