Court set to decide fate of five defendants in Owo church attack trial

At about 9:15 a.m., the Judge Emeka Nwite is seated and ready to deliver judgement in the terrorism trial.

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday is set to decide the fate of five defendants linked to the 2022 attack on St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State. About 40 persons were said to be killed and over 100 others injured during the terrorist attack.

The five defendants standing trial over the 5 June 2022 attack are Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, 25; Al Qasim Idris, 20; Jamiu Abdulmalik, 26; Abdulhaleem Idris, 25; and Momoh Otuho Abubakar, 47.

At about 9:15 a.m., the Judge Emeka Nwite is seated and ready to deliver judgement in the terrorism trial.

All the defendants are also ready and are in court.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Nwite reserved judgement on 26 May after lawyers for the prosecution and defence adopted their final written addresses.

The court later fixed Wednesday for judgement and informed the parties.

While presenting the final address, the prosecution lawyer, Ayodeji Adedipe, urged the court to convict the defendants and impose the maximum punishment of death because of the gravity of the alleged offence.

However, the defence lawyer, Abdullahi Mohammad, asked the court to discharge and acquit his clients, arguing that the prosecution failed to prove its case against them.

The attack occurred during a Pentecost Sunday Mass at St Francis Catholic Church in Owo. Gunmen reportedly opened fire and detonated explosives inside and around the church, killing at least 41 worshippers and injuring more than 140 others. The incident triggered national outrage and condemnation from local and international bodies.

The defendants were arraigned before the Federal High Court in Abuja in August last year on terrorism charges filed by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.

Prosecutors alleged that the suspects belonged to an Al Shabaab cell operating in Kogi State and that they planned and carried out the deadly church attack as part of a violent religious agenda. The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In September, the trial judge, Mr Nwite, dismissed the defendants’ bail application, ruling that it lacked merit. Judge Nwite held that bail could not be granted given the gravity of the offences and the strength of the prosecution’s case. He also said there was a likelihood that the defendants could interfere with witnesses if released pending the conclusion of the trial.

After the arraignment, the prosecution applied for accelerated hearing of the case, which the court granted.

The trial formally opened in December 2025 when the prosecution called its first witness, a Catholic priest who conducted the Mass on the day of the attack. Under a court approved witness protection arrangement, many of the witnesses testified with coded identities.

During trial, survivors of the attack, church members, Amotekun operatives, and SSS investigators took turns to testify before the court across months. Some witnesses narrated how the attackers stormed the church and opened fire on worshippers attempting to flee. Others described the aftermath of the attack and the efforts made to track down the suspects.

One of the prosecution witnesses identified two of the defendants in court as part of the attackers he saw inside the church during the assault. Another witness, who testified in a wheelchair, told the court she lost both legs and one eye after explosives detonated during the attack.

The prosecution eventually closed its case after calling 11 witnesses. The final prosecution witness, an SSS digital forensic expert identified as SSK, told the court that investigators used phone tracking, geospatial analysis, and cell tower triangulation to trace and arrest the suspects.

During the trial, the court also conducted a trial within trial after the defence challenged the admissibility of the defendants’ confessional statements. The defence argued that the statements were obtained under duress. However, Judge Nwite admitted the statements in evidence after ruling on the objections.

Defendant denied involvement

The defence later opened its case and urged the court to reject the prosecution’s evidence and acquit the defendants.

The first defendant, Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, testified on 4 March. Led in evidence by his lawyer, Abdullahi Mohammed, the 25-year-old auxiliary nurse denied involvement in the Owo church attack.

Mr Omeiza narrated how SSS operatives allegedly arrested him at his residence in Kogi State on 1 August 2022 after they stormed the house around 2 a.m. He said the operatives later moved him to Ondo State and repeatedly asked him to confess to involvement in the attack.

“They asked me to tell the truth, but I said I had nothing to tell them,” he told the court.

Mr Omeiza alleged that the operatives chained and beat him until he fainted and later forced him to sign statements. He insisted that the statements were not voluntary.

Also, on 26 March, another defendant, Jamiu Abdulmalik, denied involvement in the church attack. He testified that SSS operatives arrested him in 2022 while he travelled from Ondo State to Kogi State.

Mr Abdulmalik alleged that he was tortured in custody and forced to sign statements implicating him in the attack. He maintained that he had no connection with the incident.

Throughout the defence, Mr Mohammed argued that the confessional statements tendered by the prosecution should not be relied on because the defendants claimed they were obtained through torture and coercion.

The attack

On 5 June 2022, gunmen stormed the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, during Pentecost Mass, killing more than 40 worshippers and injuring over 100 others.

The attack occured amid worsening insecurity in different parts of the country. For over a decade, the northeastern part of the country has been in the grip insurgency. Splinter groups of the terrorists and their cells are believed to have spread to the North-west and North-central where armed criminals often referred to as bandits, who kidnap for ransom, also operate.

Kogi State in the North-central region shares borders with Ondo State in the South-west where the June 2022 massacre occured. Observers believedthat the attack was a major sign pointing to the gradual spread of the terrorist activities down south.