A Federal High Court in Abuja has refused bail to five men accused of being members of the Al-Shabab terrorist group and carrying out the 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, which left more than 40 worshippers dead.
Justice Emeka Nwite ruled on Wednesday that the terrorism charges were capital in nature and that releasing the defendants posed risks to witnesses and the integrity of the trial. He upheld submissions by the Department of State Services (DSS) that the evidence was weighty and that the accused might abscond if granted bail.
The court also criticised procedural errors in the defence’s application, including the omission of the defendants’ names from the motion paper and the filing of a joint affidavit rather than individual ones, as required by law.
An accelerated hearing was granted, with the trial scheduled to begin on October 19, 2025.
The defendants are Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris, and Momoh Otuho Abubakar. They face charges of joining Al-Shabab in Kogi State in 2021 and planning and executing the June 5, 2022 massacre in Owo under the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
