Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has admitted additional confessional statements and a Digital Forensic Examination Report in the ongoing trial of five defendants accused of involvement in the June 5, 2022 terrorist attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, which left 41 people dead and 140 others injured.
The court also admitted a Tecno mobile phone allegedly used to exchange communications among the defendants before and after the attack.
The exhibits were tendered and admitted without objection from defence counsel, Abdullahi Mohammed.
At the resumed hearing, the Department of State Services (DSS), prosecuting the case, closed its case after calling 11 witnesses to support the charges.
Justice Nwite subsequently adjourned proceedings to March 4 and 5 for the defendants to open their defence.
Earlier, defence counsel informed the court that the defendants would testify in their own defence and expressed confidence that the case could be concluded within a day. He, however, urged the court to direct the DSS to grant him unhindered access to his clients in custody to facilitate adequate preparation.
The DSS’s final witness, identified by the code name PSSK, a senior operative overseeing forensic and counter-terrorism investigations, testified that he led the team deployed to Owo to track and apprehend those responsible for the attack.
He explained that investigators employed geospatial network filtering technology to analyse thousands of mobile phone lines that were active within the Egbeka and Ifon areas around the time of the incident.
According to the witness, the analysis narrowed the investigation to the phone line of the fifth defendant, Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, leading to his arrest in Ifon, Ondo State.
He added that Omeiza’s confession subsequently led to the arrest of the four other defendants. Forensic analysis further revealed that the accused persons were in communication with one another before and after the attack.
The witness maintained that call records showed at least three of the defendants exchanged multiple calls around the time of the incident, indicating prior association. He emphasised that their arrest was the outcome of deliberate technological investigation rather than coincidence.
Under cross-examination, the operative disclosed that the post-incident investigation lasted over a month and confirmed that all five defendants were arrested in August 2022 at different locations in Kogi and Ondo states.
