Three year after Owo massacre, FG charges five over Catholic church attack

The federal government on Monday arraigned five suspects for their alleged involvement in the killing of over 40 worshippers at St Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo state, in June 2022.

The suspects — Idris Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris, and Momoh Otuho Abubakar — were brought before the federal high court in Abuja by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).

The attack, which occurred on June 5, 2022, saw gunmen open fire on worshippers from point-blank range during a Sunday service.

They were arraigned before Justice Emeka Nwite on a nine-count charge filed by the Attorney-General of the Federation.

According to the charge, the suspects and others still at large “sometime in 2021, joined the AL Shabab Terrorist Group” and had 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”.

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The federal government alleged that the suspects met at the Government Secondary School, Ogamirana, Adavi LGA in Kogi state, and behind Omialafa Central Mosque, Ose LGA in Ondo state, in 2022, where they planned the attack carried out in June that year.

The arraignment marks a key step in the prosecution of those accused of carrying out one of the deadliest church attacks in Nigeria’s recent history.