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Michael Jego, an operative of the Department of State Services (DSS), has told a federal high court in Abuja how John Agbo was traced and arrested over alleged threats to attack three schools in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Jego gave the account on Friday while testifying before Joyce Abdulmalik, the presiding judge, in the ongoing trial.
Agbo is being prosecuted on charges of terrorism and cybercrime over a series of messages sent to Premier International School, The Regent Secondary School, and Oakland International British School.
According to the prosecution, the messages warned of planned attacks on the schools and threatened the lives of students and teachers.
While leading evidence, Calistus Eze, counsel to the DSS, asked the witness to explain how the investigation began.
Jego told the court that the agency acted on petitions submitted by the affected schools in 2024 after receiving threatening SMS from multiple phone lines.
He said one of the petitions, dated November 28, 2024, came from Oakland International School.
From there, he said, the DSS deployed tracking tools that led operatives to Otukpo in Benue state, where Agbo was arrested.
“A mobile phone and a SIM card were recovered from him at the point of arrest,” he said.
“The defendant was subsequently moved to Abuja, where he made a statement in the presence of a lawyer from the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria.”
Jego also told the court that the suspect was linked to four phone numbers allegedly used to send the messages.
In one of the messages, the sender threatened to attack the schools and kill both students and teachers, claiming that carrying out the attack would take less than a minute.
During the proceedings, the prosecution tendered several items, including the Tecno Android phone recovered from the defendant, petitions from the schools, and a compact disc containing audio and video recordings of the interrogation.
A copy of the defendant’s extra-judicial statement was also admitted in evidence.
The defence, led by Hamza Dantani, did not object to the admissibility of the exhibits.
However, under cross-examination, Jego acknowledged that the petitions received by the DSS did not identify the defendant by name.
He also said the phone numbers were supplied by the schools, alongside copies of the messages.
When asked about ownership of the lines, the witness said he could not confirm if they belonged to Agbo but maintained that the defendant admitted involvement in drafting the messages.
Agbo, who admitted being familiar with the phone presented in court, denied owning it.
At the close of the session, the prosecution asked for more time to present additional witnesses and evidence.
The defence raised no objection.
The judge adjourned the case to May 12 for continuation of trial.
John Agbo
