One of five suspects arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) for their brutal role in the June 5, 2022 attack on the St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, told a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja of how he was arrested by the secret police.
The deadly terror attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, left a total of 41 worshippers killed while over 140 others were left with various degrees of injuries.
The DSS had called 11 witnesses to establish its strong allegations against the defendants in the trial that commenced on August 1, 2025.
Following the conclusion of the trial-within-trial that was conducted to establish that the witnesses’ statement were voluntarily given, the court admitted the confessional statements of the defendants.
The five defendants standing trial over the Owo attack 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).
Omeiza, who opened his defence on Wednesday when led in evidence by his legal counsel Abdullahi Muhammad, in an accelerated hearing conducted at the instance of the DSS, said that he preferred to narrate his testimony in Ebira language even though he claimed to be an auxillary nurse.
The court presided over by Justice Emeka Nwite therefore sought for an interpreter.
Omeiza thereafter told the court that he was arrested on August 1, 2022 alongside two other young boys named Hauwa and Yusuf, in the same house.
According to Omeiza; “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 stated, and gave the boys’ names are Awal and Yusuf.
In his lengthy testimony, Omeiza further told the court that it was at the DSS facility in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, that he met the 5th defendant, Momoh Otuho Abubakar who had also been arrested by operatives of the DSS.
Omeiza said that at the DSS office in Lokoja, 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.
Omeiza further narrated that the following day, he volunteered statement and was in detention till August 18, 2022 when he got to know that his elder brother was also arrested, adding that before August 18, 2022, when they were moved to Ondo State, the DSS did not say anything relating to the Owo Catholic Church attack and membership of ISWAP or any other terror organization with him.
He also said that at the Ondo State DSS headquarters office, he was detained alongside his elder brother in the same room where interrogators questioned them about the attack on Owo Catholic Church.
Further hearing of the case was shifted by the court to Friday, March 6, 2026, for the continuation of their defence.
