Owo Terror Attack: Court Admits Additional Confession, Forensic Report Against Suspects

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has admitted an additional confessional statement and a Digital Forensic Examination Report against the accused persons standing trial for their alleged June 5, 2022, terror attacks against St Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.

About 41 people lost their lives in the attack, while 140 others were injured.

Justice Emeka Nwite of the court admitted the statement, the Digital forensic examination report, along with a Techno Telephone that revealed the exchange of communications among the defendants before and after the terror attack.

The Judge admitted the exhibits following counsel for the five defendants, Mr Abdullahi Mohammed, making no objections to their admission.

The five defendants are Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (25 years), Al Qasim Idris (20 years), Jamiu Abdulmalik (26 years), Abdulhaleem Idris (25 years) and Momoh Otuho Abubakar (47 years).

At Thursday’s proceedings, the Department of the State Service (DSS), which put the accused on trial, formally closed its case after calling 11 witnesses who testified against the defendants to establish the alleged offences.

Following the development, Justice Nwite gave the defendants, who are facing 9-count charges, March 4 and 5 to open their defence in the heinous crime.

Counsel for the accused persons had earlier informed the court that only the defendants would give evidence and that he could complete the defence in just one day.

He, however, urged the court to direct the DSS to allow him access to the defendants in its custody to avoid obstacles to the defence.

At the proceedings, the last witness of the DSS, code-named PSSK, a Senior Operative with DSS in charge of Forensic and Counter-terrorism, revealed that he was drafted along with others to proceed to Owo, the venue of the attack, to trace, locate, and apprehend the perpetrators of the crime.

He told the Court that geospatial network filtering was adopted, which filtered thousands of mobile phone lines with contacts in Egbeka and Ifon.

As a result of the technology adoption, the witness said the result narrowed down to the phone of the 5th defendant, Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, leading to his arrest in Ifon town of Ondo state.

The witness further stated that the confession of Omeiza led to the arrest of the four others, adding that forensic examination carried out on theirs revealed that they were in a series of communication with each other before and after the attack.

Specifically, the DSS told the court that three of the defendants made several calls before and after the attack, which showed that they know one another, adding their arrest was not by accident but by the use of technology.

Answering a question during cross-examination, the DSS operative said that the post-incident investigation lasted for more than a month, adding that all five defendants were apprehended in August 2022 at different locations in Kogi and Ondo States.