Court Holds Back Judgment In Owo Church Attack Case As Tension Builds Over Fate Of Five Accused

(Trial of Five Men. Photo by X.com)

A Federal High Court in Abuja has reserved judgment in the trial of five men charged in connection with the June 5, 2022 terrorist attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, in which 41 worshippers lost their lives and over 140 others were injured.

Presiding judge Justice Emeka Nwite fixed the judgment date for a time to be communicated to all parties, following the adoption of final written addresses by both prosecution and defence counsel.

The judge indicated that notification could come within 24 hours of the judgment being ready.

In his closing address, the prosecution counsel representing the Department of State Services, Ayodeji Adedipe (SAN), urged the court to convict all five defendants and impose the maximum penalty of death, citing the extreme gravity of the offence allegedly committed.

Defence counsel Abdullahi Mohammad, on the other hand, urged the court to discharge and acquit his clients, arguing that the prosecution had failed to sufficiently prove its case against them.

The five defendants are Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris, and Momoh Otuho Abubakar.

The trial, which began on August 1, 2025, saw the DSS call 11 witnesses in support of its case.

The court had earlier admitted the defendants' confessional statements into evidence after conducting a trial-within-trial to verify that the statements were made voluntarily.

The DSS had also sought and obtained accelerated hearing of the matter at the outset of the trial.