Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
Nearly four years after gunmen stormed a Catholic church in the quiet town of Owo, Ondo State, killing 41 worshippers and injuring over 140 others, the Federal High Court in Abuja has reserved judgment in the trial of five men accused of carrying out the June 5, 2022, terrorist attack on St. Francis Catholic Church. At the conclusion of proceedings on Tuesday, May 26, 2026, the prosecution urged Justice Emeka Nwite to convict the defendants and impose the maximum sentence of death, citing the scale, brutality, and devastating impact of the attack on innocent civilians. The defense, however, asked the court to discharge and acquit its clients, arguing that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.
The five defendants facing trial are Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, 25; Al Qasim Idris, 20; Jamiu Abdulmalik, 26; Abdulhaleem Idris, 25; and Momoh Otuho Abubakar, 47. They are being prosecuted by the Department of State Services (DSS) on a nine-count charge bordering on terrorism, conspiracy, and murder. The charges stem from the attack on a Pentecost Sunday Mass, when armed assailants opened fire and detonated explosives inside and around the church, leaving dozens dead and more than 140 injured. The attack shocked the nation and drew widespread international condemnation.
The trial, which commenced on August 1, 2025, saw the prosecution call 11 witnesses, including survivors, security operatives, and an undercover DSS investigator. In his final submission, lead prosecuting counsel, Ayodeji Adedipe (SAN), argued that the state had established its case “beyond reasonable doubt” and that the death penalty was the only appropriate sentence given the gravity of the offense. Adedipe reminded the court that the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act prescribes the death penalty where terrorist acts result in fatalities, and he urged the judge to consider Nigeria’s worsening security situation and the devastating impact of terrorism on the nation.
The prosecution maintained that the defendants were members of an Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) cell operating in Kogi and Ondo States. A DSS counter-terrorism investigator, identified only as SSI for security reasons, had earlier testified that the suspects were armed, funded, and mobilised by a terrorist commander known as Odoba, who remains at large. According to the witness, the group conducted a “dry practice” without live ammunition before driving to the church in a hired Volkswagen Golf with weapons concealed in sacks. The witness told the court that the attackers opened fire and detonated improvised explosive devices (IEDs) both inside and outside the church, ensuring that worshippers had no means of escape.
The prosecution also relied heavily on the confessional statements of the first four defendants, which the court admitted after conducting a trial-within-trial to determine their voluntariness. Adedipe noted that the statements bore the signatures and thumbprints of the accused, which were never disputed throughout the proceedings. The fifth defendant, Momoh Otuho Abubakar, who did not make a confessional statement, was allegedly the financier of the operation. The prosecution argued that money found in his account was used to sponsor the attack and that he failed to provide a satisfactory explanation for its source. Eyewitnesses also identified the second and fourth defendants in court, testimony that remained intact under cross-examination.
The defense counsel, Abdullahi Mohammad, urged the court to discharge and acquit his clients, arguing that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Mohammad did not make extensive oral submissions but adopted the final written address filed on behalf of the defendants, asking the court to dismiss the charges against them. He had earlier argued that the defendants were denied access to lawyers for nearly three years and that their confessions were obtained under duress.
Justice Emeka Nwite, after hearing final arguments from both sides, reserved judgment to a date to be communicated to the parties. The judge told lawyers that they would receive notice once the judgment was ready, hinting that the notice could come within 24 hours. The attack, which claimed the lives of 41 worshippers and left over 140 others injured, remains one of the deadliest acts of terrorism in Nigerian history. As the nation awaits the court’s decision, the families of the victims continue to seek justice. For the Owo community, the massacre of June 5, 2022, remains an open wound that only a fair and transparent judicial process can begin to heal.
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