•The suspects in court and the church building
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja is set to commence the trial of five persons accused of masterminding the bombing of a Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.
The Department of State Services (DSS) had on August 11, 2025, 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, reports Channels TV.
The five persons — Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris, and Momoh Otuho Abubakar — are to face trial for the attack which claimed over 40 lives and left over 100 individuals injured.
The five defendants were arraigned on nine-count terrorism charges by the Department of State Services (DSS), and they all pleaded not guilty.
The suspects are accused, among others, 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 in furtherance of 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, and planned the attack, which they carried out in June of the same year.
