Owo church attack: DSS asks court for death sentence on suspects

By Taiye Agbaje

Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Services, DSS has asked Federal High Court in Abuja to impose the maximum sentence of death on five men charged with alleged involvement in the June 5, 2022, attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.

The lawyer to the DSSS, Ayodeji Adedipe, SAN made the request in his final submission to the court on Tuesday.

The lawyer urged the court to convict the defendants and impose maximum sentence of death on the suspects in view of the enormity of the crime they allegedly committed.

However, the defendants’ lawyer, Abdullahi Mohammad, prayed the court to discharge and acquit his clients on the grounds that the prosecution was unable to establish its case against them.

The Department of State Services (DSS) charged Idris Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris, and Momoh Abubakar with nine-counts of terrorism.

However, Justice Emeka Nwite reserved judgement on the suit after lawyers to the prosecution and the defence adopted their final written addresses and presented their arguments for and against the case.

Justice Nwite said that judgment would be reserved to a date to be communicated to parties.

The judge told lawyers to the parties that they would receive notice from the court once the judgment was ready, hinting that the notice could be within 24 hours.

A total of 41 worshippers were killed during the terror attack on the church, while over 140 others suffered various injuries.

The DSS had called 11 witnesses to establish the allegations against the defendants in the trial that began on Aug. 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’ statements were voluntarily given.

The DSS had, in the commencement of the trial, sought an accelerated hearing which was granted by the court.

(NAN)