Court to deliver judgment on Owo church attack suspects Wednesday

The federal high court in Abuja is set to deliver its judgment on June 3 regarding the trial of five individuals accused of participating in the terrorist attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, which resulted in the deaths of at least 41 worshippers and injuries to over 140 others on June 5, 2022. The Department of State Services (DSS) is prosecuting the defendants—Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris, and Momoh Otuho Abubakar—who face serious charges related to the attack. The court proceedings included testimonies from 11 witnesses and the admission of confessional statements from the defendants, following a trial-within-trial to assess their voluntariness. The prosecution has requested the maximum penalty for the defendants, while the defense has argued for their acquittal, claiming insufficient evidence to support the allegations.

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