The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Thursday, fixed March 4 for five alleged members of the Al-Shabab terrorist group, who are facing trial over their participation in the June 5, 2022, attack at St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, in Ondo State, to open their defence.

The attack, which occurred while the church was celebrating its Pentecost Sunday, led to the deaths of over 40 persons and serious injuries to more than 100 others.

Those listed as defendants in the nine-count charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/301/2025, which the Department of State Services (DSS) filed on behalf of the federal government, 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).

The court was told that the defendants were key members of an Al Shabab terrorist cell located in Kogi State.

It was alleged that the defendants carried out the attack on worshipers with IEDs and AK 47 rifles, in furtherance of their religious ideology.

At the resumed proceedings on Thursday, the prosecution closed its case after it produced the eleventh witness (PW-1) who testified against the defendants and tendered several exhibits in evidence.

Among the items the court admitted in evidence in the case were confessional statements and a Digital Forensic Examination Report, tendered along with a Techno phone said to have revealed communications exchanged by the defendants before and after the terror attack.

Counsel to the defendants, Mr. Abdullahi Mohammed, did not oppose the admission of the exhibits in evidence.

Before the court fixed March 4 and 5 for the opening of defence, Mohammed informed trial Justice Emeka Nwite that the defendants would give evidence for themselves.

Stressing that the defendants could round up their defence in one day, he, however, persuaded the court to direct the DSS to grant him access to his clients who are in its custody, to enable him to effectively prepare their case.

Earlier in the proceedings, the PW-11 who was code named ‘PSSK’, identified himself as a senior DSS operative in charge of Forensic and Counter Terrorism.

The witness told the court that he was drafted along with others to proceed to Owo, venue of the attack, to trace, locate and apprehend the perpetrators of the crime.

He told the court that geospatial network filtering was adopted for the operation, which he said filtered thousands of mobile phone lines at that Egbeka and Ifon.

According to the witness, the technology was able to narrow down to the phone of the 5th defendant, Omeifa, leading to his arrest in Ifon town, Ondo State.

The witness further told the court that Omeiza’s confession led to the arrest of the four other defendants, adding that forensic examination carried out on their phones revealed that they were in series of communication with each other before and after the attack.

While being cross-examined by the defence lawyer, the witness said the post-incident investigation lasted over a month.

He added that the five defendants were apprehended in August 2022 at different locations in Kogi and Ondo States. (Vanguard)