A Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed Wednesday, June 3, for judgment in the trial of five men accused of involvement in the June 5, 2022, attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, which left more than 40 worshippers dead and over 100 others injured.
The defendants are Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al-Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris and Momoh Otuho Abubakar.
Justice Emeka Nwite had reserved judgment after parties adopted their final written addresses on May 26, informing counsel that a date would be communicated once the ruling was ready.
Lawyers in the case have since been notified by the court registry of the judgment date.
During final arguments, counsel to the Department of State Services, Ayodeji Adedipe (SAN), urged the court to convict the defendants and impose the maximum penalty of death, arguing that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.
According to him, the attack on the Owo church, the resulting deaths, injuries and destruction were not disputed during the trial.
“The only dispute is that the defendants, who have been charged for various acts of terrorism, pleaded not guilty and denied their involvement,” he said.
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Adedipe argued that the first to fourth defendants made voluntary confessional statements, which they signed and thumbprinted, and that attempts to retract those statements failed.
He further maintained that forensic evidence and investigations linked the defendants to the attack and were not successfully challenged during the trial.
The prosecutor also told the court that the second and fourth defendants were identified by eyewitnesses whose testimonies remained intact under cross-examination.
Regarding the fifth defendant, Adedipe said prosecutors alleged he financed the attack despite not being physically present at the scene.
“The evidence against him is that he sponsored the attack and that the money found in his account is part of the money he used to sponsor the attack,” he argued.
Adedipe added that the offences were prosecuted under the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act, which prescribes the death penalty where terrorism-related acts result in loss of life.
He urged the court to impose the maximum sentence, citing the scale of the attack and Nigeria’s ongoing struggle with terrorism.
However, defence counsel Abdullahi Mohammad asked the court to discharge and acquit the defendants, contending that the prosecution failed to establish its case against them.
The court is expected to determine whether the evidence presented during the trial is sufficient to convict the five defendants over one of Nigeria’s deadliest attacks on a place of worship in recent years.
