by Rachel Ogbu

A move to ban journalist from the trial of Boko Haram members and other suspects charged with terrorism-related offences was established on Tuesday February 5.

The Federal Government made a verbal application before an Abuja Federal High Court through the prosecution counsel, Simon Labaran, during the arraignment of a suspected Boko Haram member, Mustapha Umar, suspected of bombing a plaza housing the offices of some newspapers in Kaduna in April 2012.

Presiding judge, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, was asked to allow the proceedings to be conducted without the press, “in order to safeguard and protect the identities of witnesses already lined up to testify against the accused person.”

The Punch reports:

The prosecution counsel argued that unless the trial was conducted in camera, “most of the witnesses would not turn up in court for fear of the safety of their lives and property.”

Labaran was authorised by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, to prosecute the matter on behalf of the Federal Government.

The application seeks to ensure that journalists, lawyers and members of the public, who are not witnesses or part of the counsel in the case, are prevented from gaining entry into the courtroom during trial.

Labaran said the application was made pursuant to Section 31(3) of the Terrorism Prevention Act 2011, which he said was to ensure the safety of the public and the protection of the witnesses, who would be called upon to testify in the course of the trial.

The controversial application was not opposed by the lawyers for the alleged Boko Haram suspect.

However, Justice Ademola did not allow the application to sail through.

Instead, he told the prosecution counsel to file a formal application to that effect, although he noted that he might not be favourably disposed to granting such a request because “we are in the democratic era.”

He also noted that the public was interested in the details of the proceedings.

The judge further observed that Nigeria was not a banana republic, where citizens could be deprived of their rights.

Earlier, the accused person, Umar, had pleaded not guilty to a one-count charge of terrorism filed against him by the Federal Government.

Umar was initially slated for arraignment on January 29, 2013, but the proceeding could not hold because there was no lawyer available to represent him in court.

Two lawyers, Mr. F. I. Umahi and Mohammed Umar, announced appearance for Umar when the matter came up again on Tuesday, although it was not clear whether they were authorised by the government to defend the accused person or not.

Justice Ademola ordered that the accused person should be granted access to his lawyers while he remains in prison custody.

The matter was adjourned to March 12, 2013