The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday, reserved judgment in the trial of five persons charged over their alleged involvement in the June 5, 2022 attack on St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.
The Department of State Services (DSS) are prosecuting Idris Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris, and Momoh Abubakar on a nine-count charge bordering on terrorism.
The trial judge, Justice Emeka Nwite reserved judgement in the matter after lawyers to the prosecution and the defence adopted their final written addresses and presented their arguments.
Justice Nwite announced that, judgment was reserved to a date to be communicated to parties in the matter.
The judge told lawyers to the parties that they would receive notice from the court once the judgment was ready, hinting that the notice could be within 24 hours.
In his final submission, counsel to the prosecution, Ayodeji Adedipe, SAN, urged the court to convict the defendants and impose the maximum sentence of death in view of the enormity of the crime they allegedly committed.
On his part, the defendants’ lawyer, Abdullahi Mohammad, prayed the court to discharge and acquit his clients on the grounds that the prosecution was unable to establish its case against them.
It would be recalled that, a total of 41 worshippers were killed during the terror attack on the church, while over 140 others suffered various injuries in the attack.
The DSS had called 11 witnesses to establish the allegations against the defendants in the trial that started on August 1, 2025.
The defendants were apprehended in August 2022 at different locations in Kogi and Ondo States.
The trial court had admitted the confessional statements of the defendants following the conclusion of the trial- within-trial conducted to establish that the witnesses’ statements were voluntarily given.
One of the count charge reads, “That you, Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris and Momoh Otuho Abubakar, adults, males, with others still at large, on 05/06/2022, at St. Francis Catholic Church , Owo, Ondo State, with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, did detonate Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) which caused grievous bodily harm to over 100 persons, including: Onuchukwu Happiness, Ogungbade Vivan and Nnakwe Paschaline Ugochinyerem and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 42(a)(i) of Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022”.
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