One of five persons accused by the Department of State Services (DSS) of carrying out the June 5, 2022 attack on the St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, in Ondo State on Wednesday, told the Federal High Court in Abuja, how he was arrested by the secret police.
A total of 41 worshippers were killed during the terror attack on the church, with over 140 others suffering various injuries.
The DSS had called 11 witnesses to establish the allegations against the defendants in the trial that began on August 1, 2025. The trial court had admitted the confessional statements of the defendants following the conclusion of the trial- within-trial conducted to establish that the witnesses’ statement were voluntarily given.
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).
On Wednesday, Omeiza, who opened his defence, was led in evidence in an accelerated hearing conducted at the instance of the DSS, by his lawyer, Abdullahi Muhammad. Even though Omeiza claimed to be an auxillary nurse, he chose to narrate his testimony in Ebira, prompting the court to seek an interpreter.
Omeiza told the court, presided by Justice Emeka Nwite, that he was arrested on August 1, 2022 alongside two other young boys named Hauwa and Yusuf, in the same house.
“The night I was arrested, I used to wake up in the morning to read my book. When I woke up and was reading, I looked at the clock and it was 2:20 early in the morning.
“When I woke up, I was hearing noises. At that time, I dropped the book I was reading, I opened my window, viewed through the window and saw a group of people putting on black black and covering their faces. They forced open the door and entered,” he stated.
“They were asking after my elder brother, Jamiu. There is a door close to my room, and there were too small small boys there. They arrested them, ” he said, and gave the boys’ names as Awal and Yusuf.
In his lengthy testimony, the defendant told that court that it was at the DSS facility in Lokoja, the state capital, that he met the 5th defendant, Momoh Otuho Abubakar had also been arrested by operatives of the secret police.
At the DSS office in Lokoja, Omeiza explained that the four of them were kept in a room where information in respect of their names, schools attended, their work, and their father’s name was obtained and recorded.
The following day, said the defendant, he volunteered statement and was in detention till August 18, 2022 when he got to know that his elder brother was also arrested
He further told the court that before August 18, 2022, when they were moved to Ondo state, the DSS didn’t say anything relating to the Owo Catholic Church attack and membership of ISWAP or any other terror organization, with him.
At the Ondo State DSS headquarters office, Omeiza claimed, he was detained alongside his elder brother in the same room where interrogators questioned them about the attack on Owo Catholic Church.
Further hearing has been shifted to March 6 for the continuation of their defence.
