The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday admitted confessional statements made by four defendants standing trial over the June 5, 2022, attack on St Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Owo in Ondo State.
Presiding judge Emeka Nwite rejected the defence’s request for a trial-within-trial, ruling that the statements were admissible after considering arguments on their voluntariness and authorship.
The defendants — Al-Qasim Idris, Abdul-Halil Idris, Omeiza Abdulmalik, and Jamiu Abdulmalik — are being prosecuted by the Department of State Services on nine counts of terrorism in connection with the attack, which claimed the lives of more than 40 worshippers and left many others injured.
During proceedings, a DSS investigator identified as SSJ told the court he interviewed the defendants individually and recorded their statements after administering cautionary words. He testified that the men said they could speak English and pidgin but could not write in English, prompting the presence of a representative from the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria as an independent witness.
According to the investigator, each statement was read back to the defendants, who confirmed their accuracy before signing and thumbprinting them. A senior officer and the Legal Aid Council representative also countersigned the documents.
Defence counsel A.A. Muhammad objected to the admissibility of the statements, alleging they were obtained under duress and questioning procedural details. He urged the court to conduct a trial-within-trial to examine the circumstances surrounding their recording.
The prosecution countered that the objection concerned authorship rather than voluntariness, arguing that a trial-within-trial was unnecessary.
In his ruling, Justice Nwite overruled the defence objection, stating that the court was satisfied with the admissibility of the documents. The statements, dated August 18, 2022, were admitted and marked as Exhibits O, P, Q, and R.
The case was adjourned to February 19, 2026, for continuation of trial and cross-examination of the prosecution witness.
