Court Admits Additional Evidence in Owo Catholic Church Attack Trial

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday admitted additional confessional statements and a Digital Forensic Examination Report in the ongoing trial of five men accused of involvement in the June 5, 2022 attack on St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State.

The attack claimed the lives of 41 worshippers and left about 140 others injured.

Justice Emeka Nwite admitted the statements, the forensic report, and a Techno mobile phone allegedly used to exchange communications before and after the incident. The exhibits were accepted after defence counsel, Mr. Abdullahi Mohammed, raised no objections.

The defendants are Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (25), Al Qasim Idris (20), Jamiu Abdulmalik (26), Abdulhaleem Idris (25), and Momoh Otuho Abubakar (47).

At Thursday’s hearing, the Federal Government closed its case after presenting 11 witnesses to support the nine-count charge filed against the accused persons. The court subsequently adjourned proceedings to March 4 and 5 for the defendants to open their defence.

Defence counsel earlier informed the court that only the accused persons would testify and expressed confidence that the defence could be concluded in one day. He, however, urged the court to direct the Department of State Services (DSS) to grant him access to the defendants in custody to facilitate preparation.

Testifying as the prosecution’s final witness, a senior DSS operative identified by the code name PSSK, who heads the agency’s Forensic and Counter-Terrorism unit, explained how investigators deployed geospatial network filtering technology to track the suspects.

According to him, the technique filtered thousands of mobile phone lines linked to Egbeka and Ifon communities. The process allegedly traced communications to the fifth defendant, Omeiza, leading to his arrest in Ifon, Ondo State.

The witness stated that Omeiza’s alleged confession led to the arrest of the other four defendants. He added that forensic analysis of their phones revealed that they communicated with one another before and after the attack.

Under cross-examination, the prosecution disclosed that post-incident investigations lasted over a month and that all five defendants were arrested in August 2022 at different locations in Kogi and Ondo states.