The Federal High Court in Abuja, presided over by Judge Emeka Nwite, on Wednesday admitted the confessional statements of four defendants implicated in the horrific 5 June 2022 attack on St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State. The attack, which occurred during Pentecost Mass, resulted in the deaths of more than 40 worshippers and injuries to over 100 others. The statements, belonging to Idris Omeiza (25), Al Qasim Idris (20), Jamiu Abdulmalik (26), and Abdulhaleem Idris (25), were marked as Exhibits O, P, Q, and R. Momoh Otuho Abubakar (47) is the fifth defendant in the ongoing trial, who was arraigned alongside the others on terrorism charges by the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation on 11 August last year.

The court's decision followed testimony from SSJ, the 10th prosecution witness and an SSS investigator, whose identity was protected under a judge-approved witness protection arrangement. SSJ informed the court that he was responsible for interviewing the defendants and recording their statements regarding their involvement in the attack. He detailed the process, stating that he administered cautionary words before taking each defendant's statement individually. The defendants indicated they could speak English, albeit pidgin, but stated they could not write it. Lacking legal representation or family members as witnesses, the Director of the Legal Aid Council was invited to oversee the voluntary statement-taking process. SSJ confirmed that after the statements were taken, a senior investigating officer, in the presence of the Legal Aid Council director, verified with each defendant that the statements were theirs, made voluntarily, and accurately reflected their oral accounts. The defendants then appended their signatures, dates, and thumbprints, followed by SSJ’s signature, the senior investigating officer's countersignature, and the Legal Aid Council director's signature as a witness.

Defence lawyer, A.A. Muhammad, objected to the admissibility of these statements, arguing that only two of the defendants were illiterate and alleging that the statements were obtained under duress in Akure, Ondo State. He further contended that the documents were improperly stamped at the SSS headquarters in Abuja, lacked proper dates, and had invisible thumbprints, claiming the defendants were “tortured seriously” before their statements were recorded. Mr. Muhammad urged the court to conduct a trial-within-trial to ascertain the voluntariness of the statements.

However, Judge Nwite overruled the defence's objection and rejected the request for a trial-within-trial. Upholding the argument by prosecution lawyer Ayodeji Adedipe (SAN), Mr. Nwite clarified that a trial-within-trial is conducted only when the voluntariness of a statement is in question, not when a defendant denies making the statement altogether. He stated that where the issue is whether the statement was in fact made by the accused person, it becomes a question of fact that does not affect admissibility, allowing the court to admit it and later decide its weight in the final judgment.

Earlier during cross-examination, both SSJ and the ninth prosecution witness, SSI (who earlier told the court on Tuesday that he led the investigation team), provided further details about the SSS investigation. They confirmed that the defendants were arrested in August 2022 in Kogi and Ondo states, with the fifth defendant, Momoh Otuho Abubakar, likely apprehended in Kogi. The witnesses linked the defendants to an “ISWAP cell that call themselves Al-Shabab,” which operates around the Niger-Kwara axis. A principal suspect, Odoba, remains at large and is known to operate around Ogaminana. Other individuals, Abdullahi and Mohammed, also linked to the attack, are still at large.

Evidence presented indicated that Abdulhaleem Idris returned five AK-47 rifles, magazines, and a rented vehicle to Odoba after the incident. Investigators recovered a Nissan Sunny getaway vehicle and a motorcycle used for surveillance. The defendants also reportedly snatched another vehicle from a worshipper to use as a getaway. Eyewitnesses identified four defendants at the church, and phone call analysis placed them in the vicinity of the church during the attack, based on telecommunications cell site data. The investigation also involved financial tracking targeting suspected terrorism funding. The defendants have remained in custody since 2022. The court was informed about pre-attack meetings, including one at Government Secondary School Ogaminana where Odoba instructed the second defendant for the attack, followed by two other meetings held on June 3 and 4, 2022. The attack itself involved the use of both explosives and several rounds of ammunition.

The Owo church attack occurred amidst escalating insecurity across Nigeria, with observers noting it as a significant sign of terrorist activities spreading southwards from the insurgency-ridden Northeast into regions like North Central (Kogi State borders Ondo State) and potentially the South West. The trial is set to continue on Thursday, 19 February, at 12 noon, for the tendering of the fifth defendant’s statement and further cross-examination of SSJ.