A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has begun the trial of five persons accused of the attack on the Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.
The Department of State Services, DSS, had on August 11, 2025, reportedly arraigned the five men before Justice Emeka Nwite over their alleged involvement in the June 5, 2022, attack at St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, in Ondo State.
According to Daily Post, the five persons, including Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris, and Momoh Otuho Abubakar.
They are facing trial for the attack, which claimed over 40 lives and left more than 100 individuals injured.
The defendants are facing nine-count terrorism charges by the DSS, and they all pleaded not guilty.
The suspects are accused, among other things, of being members of the Al Shabab terrorist group, with a cell in Kogi State.
They are also alleged to have carried out the attack due to their religious ideology.
They were alleged to have their “cell in Kogi and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 25(1) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.”
The suspects were alleged to have held meetings at the Government Secondary School, Ogamirana, Adavi LGA in Kogi, and behind Omialafa Central Mosque, Ose LGA, Ondo, in 2022, where they planned the attack carried out in June of the same year.
