Owo church massacre: Phone evidence places suspects at crime scene

A witness from the Department of State Services (DSS) on Wednesday told the Federal High Court in Abuja that mobile phone analysis placed four defendants charged over the 5 June 2022 attack on St Francis Catholic Church, Owo, at the scene of the crime.

Testifying as the 10th prosecution witness (PW-10) before Justice Emeka Nwite, the operative, identified in court as “SSJ” for security reasons, said call data records and telecommunications cell site analysis showed that the first to fourth defendants were within the vicinity of the church at the time of the attack.

The prosecution alleged that the defendants — Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, 25; Al Qasim Idris, 20; Jamiu Abdulmalik, 26; Abdulhaleem Idris, 25; and Momoh Otuho Abubakar, 47 — carried out the attack, which left at least 40 worshippers dead and more than 100 others injured in Owo, Ondo State.

According to the DSS witness, analysis of the defendants’ phone calls and location data showed that their devices were active around telecommunications cell sites covering the church premises during the incident.

Beyond the technical evidence, the witness told the court that the first to fourth defendants made voluntary confessional statements linking themselves to the attack.

He said the statements were taken in the presence of the Director of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria after the defendants indicated they could not afford legal representation or have family members present.

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Defence counsel Abdullahi Muhammad objected to the admissibility of the confessional statements and urged the court to order a trial-within-trial to determine whether the statements were made by his clients.

Justice Nwite overruled the objection, holding that a trial-within-trial is required only where the voluntariness of a statement is in question, not where a defendant denies making it.

The court upheld the prosecution’s submission, led by Ayodeji Adedipe, SAN, and admitted the statements into evidence.

Earlier, under cross-examination, the ninth prosecution witness (PW-9), who led the DSS investigation team, maintained that the defendants were involved in the attack.

He told the court that the suspects were arrested in August 2022 in Kogi and Ondo states and were subsequently interviewed in Abuja.

The witness further stated that the defendants were members of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), operating within a cell referred to as Al-Shabaab, and that another faction known as the Mahmuda group was active in the area.

He added that investigations revealed the suspects used explosives and multiple rounds of ammunition during the attack.

According to the witness, the suspects drove to the church in a rented vehicle and later hijacked another vehicle from a worshipper to use as a getaway car.

The court also heard that the defendants allegedly held meetings on 3 and 4 June 2022 ahead of the attack, including one at Government Secondary School, Ogaminana, where operational instructions were reportedly issued.

Justice Nwite adjourned the case until 19 February for continuation of the trial.