The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday heard how operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) tracked and arrested a suspected terror operative, John Jude Agbo, accused of sending threatening messages to schools in the Federal Capital Territory.
Testifying as the first prosecution witness, DSS operative Michael Jego told the court that the agency received petitions from three Abuja-based schools in 2024 over text messages threatening to kill students and teachers, as well as destroy school property.
Jego said investigations led his team to deploy technology that traced the suspect to Otukpo in Benue State, where he was arrested. According to him, a Tecno Android phone and SIM card allegedly used to send the messages were recovered from Agbo at the point of arrest.
Agbo, who was arraigned on March 17 on a two-count charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/06/2026, is being prosecuted under the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022, and the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) (Amendment) Act, 2024.
In a case summary, the DSS alleged that the defendant used multiple GSM numbers to send threatening SMS messages to Premier International School, The Regent Secondary School, and Oakland International British School in Abuja.
The prosecution said the messages warned of imminent attacks, claiming it would take less than a minute to carry out the threats against both students and staff.
Led in evidence by prosecuting counsel, Dr. Calistus Eze, Jego further told the court that the defendant was brought to Abuja after his arrest and gave a statement in the presence of a lawyer from the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria.
The prosecution tendered several exhibits, including the recovered phone, petitions from the affected schools, a compact disc containing audio-visual recordings of the suspect’s interview, and his extra-judicial statement. The court admitted all the items without objection from the defense counsel, Hamza Dantani.
Although Agbo admitted being familiar with the Tecno phone, he denied ownership.
Under cross-examination, Jego acknowledged that the petitions did not mention the defendant by name and that the phone numbers used to send the messages were provided by the schools. However, he added that the defendant admitted involvement in composing the messages and was arrested with the device in question.
Following the testimony, the prosecution requested an adjournment to present additional witnesses and evidence, a request not opposed by the defense.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik subsequently adjourned the case to May 12 for continuation of trial.
