Five men arraigned in Abuja over Owo church attack
Nigerian prosecutors on Monday arraigned five men accused of carrying out the deadly Islamist militant attack on a Catholic church in Owo, Ondo state, in 2022 that killed at least 50 worshippers and wounded more than 100 others.
The suspects — Idris Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris, and Momoh Otuho Abubakar — appeared before a federal high court in Abuja and were charged under Nigeria’s terrorism law. They pleaded not guilty to the charges and were remanded in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).
Judge Emeka Nwite adjourned the start of the trial to August 19. The case is expected to test the government’s ability to prosecute terrorism-related offenses amid Nigeria’s broader struggles with insurgencies and widespread insecurity.
According to court filings, the men allegedly joined the East African terrorist group Al Shabaab in 2021 and plotted the assault at a public school in central Nigeria and near a mosque about 30 kilometres from St Francis Catholic Church in Owo. Al Shabaab did not claim responsibility for the June 2022 attack, and its presence in Nigeria remains unverified. Authorities initially blamed the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), but the group also did not claim responsibility for the attack.
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