A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja is expected to deliver judgment today in the trial of five men accused of carrying out the deadly 2022 attack on a church in Owo, Ondo State.
The defendants – Idris Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris, and Momoh Abubakar – are standing trial on terrorism-related charges filed by the Department of State Services (DSS) over the violent assault that shocked the nation.
The attack, which occurred during a church service, left at least 41 worshippers dead and 69 others injured after assailants reportedly stormed the church and detonated explosives inside the auditorium, causing panic and mass casualties.
The DSS subsequently arrested the suspects and brought them before the court on a nine-count charge bordering on terrorism and related offences. During the trial, the prosecution called 11 witnesses and tendered evidence to support its case, while also presenting confessional statements allegedly made by the defendants. The court had earlier admitted the statements after a trial-within-trial determined that they were voluntarily made.
Presiding judge, Emeka Nwite, had on May 26 reserved judgment after both the prosecution and defence concluded their final written addresses.
At the final hearing, prosecution counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria Ayodeji Adedipe, urged the court to convict the defendants and impose the maximum penalty, arguing that the gravity of the offence justified the harshest sentence under the law.
However, defence counsel, Abdullahi Mohammad, asked the court to discharge and acquit the accused persons, insisting that the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The case, which has drawn national attention due to the scale and brutality of the attack, is expected to be closely followed as the court delivers its final verdict today.
