Court to Decide Fate of Five Men in Owo Church Attack Case

The Federal High Court in Abuja will decide on Wednesday the fate of five men linked to the 2022 attack on St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State. About 40 people were killed, and over 100 others were injured during this deadly attack.

The five men on trial for the attack that happened on June 5, 2022, 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., Judge Emeka Nwite took his seat to deliver the judgment in this terrorism case. All the defendants were present in court.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that on May 26, Mr. Nwite reserved judgment after both the prosecution and defense lawyers presented their final written addresses. The court later set Wednesday for the judgment and informed all parties involved.

During the final address, the prosecution lawyer, Ayodeji Adedipe, urged the court to convict the defendants and impose the maximum punishment of death. He said the alleged crime was very serious.

On the other hand, the defense lawyer, Abdullahi Mohammad, asked the court to free his clients, saying the prosecution did not 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 set off explosives inside and around the church, killing at least 41 worshippers and injuring more than 140 others. The attack caused national outrage and drew condemnation from many local and international groups.

The defendants were brought 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 claimed the suspects were part of an Al Shabaab group operating in Kogi State and planned the deadly church attack as part of a violent religious agenda. The defendants pleaded not guilty to all charges.

In September, the trial judge, Mr. Nwite, dismissed the defendants' bail application, saying it lacked merit. He stated that bail could not be granted due to the seriousness of the charges and the strength of the prosecution’s case. He also mentioned the possibility of the defendants interfering with witnesses if released.

After the arraignment, the prosecution requested a quick hearing of the case, which the court approved. The trial formally started in December 2025, with the prosecution calling its first witness, a Catholic priest who was at the Mass on the day of the attack. Many witnesses testified under a court-approved protection plan, using coded identities.

Survivors of the attack, church members, Amotekun operatives, and SSS investigators testified over several months. Some witnesses described how the attackers stormed the church and opened fire on worshippers trying to escape. Others talked about the aftermath and efforts to catch the suspects.

One prosecution witness identified two of the defendants in court as part of the attackers he saw during the incident. Another witness, who was in a wheelchair, told the court she lost both legs and one eye when the explosives went off.

The prosecution wrapped up its case after calling 11 witnesses. The last witness, an SSS digital forensic expert named SSK, explained how investigators used phone tracking and other methods to locate and arrest the suspects.

During the trial, the court also held a trial within a trial after the defense challenged the admissibility of the defendants' confessional statements. The defense claimed the statements were taken under pressure. However, Judge Nwite accepted the statements as evidence after ruling on the objections.

Later, the defense began its case, asking the court to dismiss the prosecution's evidence and free the defendants. The first defendant, Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, testified on March 4. He denied being involved in the church attack.

Mr. Omeiza recounted how SSS operatives arrested him at his home in Kogi State on August 1, 2022, at around 2 a.m. He said the operatives took him to Ondo State and pressured him to admit to the attack.

"They asked me to tell the truth, but I said I had nothing to tell them," he told the court. He claimed the operatives beat him until he fainted and forced him to sign statements. He insisted those statements were not voluntary.

On March 26, another defendant, Jamiu Abdulmalik, also denied being involved in the attack. He testified that SSS operatives arrested him in 2022 while traveling from Ondo State to Kogi State. Mr. Abdulmalik alleged that he was tortured in custody and forced to sign statements that implicated him. He maintained he had no link to the incident.

Throughout the defense, Mr. Mohammed argued that the confessional statements presented by the prosecution should not be trusted because the defendants claimed they were obtained through torture.