Owo church killings: Court reserves judgment, prosecution seeks death penalty

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Tuesday reserved judgment in the trial of five men accused of involvement in the June 5, 2022, terrorist attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, in which 41 worshippers were killed.

More than 140 persons were also injured in the attack, while the Department of State Services had sought and obtained an accelerated hearing of the case at the commencement of the trial.

The presiding judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, fixed judgment for a date to be communicated to the parties after counsel for the prosecution and defence adopted their final written addresses.

The judge informed lawyers that the court would notify them once the judgment was ready, adding that the notice could come within 24 hours.

During his final address, counsel for the DSS, Ayodeji Adedipe (SAN), urged the court to convict the defendants and impose the maximum sentence of death because of the gravity of the offence allegedly committed.

Counsel for the defendants, Abdullahi Mohammad, however, prayed the court to discharge and acquit his clients, arguing that the prosecution failed to establish its case against them.

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

The DSS had called 11 witnesses in the trial, which commenced on August 1, 2025, to prove the allegations against the suspects.

The court had earlier admitted the defendants’ confessional statements after conducting a trial-within-trial to determine whether the statements were voluntarily made.

The attack happened during a Sunday mass, killing at least 41 worshippers and injuring more than 140 others in one of the deadliest assaults on a place of worship in Nigeria’s recent history.

The attack, which sparked national and international outrage, was carried out when armed assailants stormed the church premises and opened fire on congregants, plunging the community into mourning and triggering heightened security operations across the country.

At the time of the incident, Ondo State was under the administration of the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, who described the attack as a “deliberate, vicious and calculated assault on peace-loving people” and called for urgent federal intervention to strengthen security in vulnerable communities.

Akeredolu also led state-level emergency responses, including visits to the hospitalised victims and coordination of relief efforts for affected families.

Following investigations by security agencies, the DSS identified and arraigned five suspects in connection with the attack.