The federal high court in Abuja has declined a call for trial within trial made by the defense counsel in the ongoing trial of suspects accused of carrying out the 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.
Justice Emeka Nwite made the decision, while adjourning trial to 19th of February for the 10th prosecution witness, with pseudo name SSJ, to continue with his examination in chief.
The prosecution lawyer had, after the witness gave evidence about how he obtained the confessional statements from the first to fourth defendants, applied to tender them in evidence.
The defense lawyer objected to the admissibility of the statements and urged the court to order a trial-within-trial on the grounds that the said statements were not made by his clients.
This prompted the objection of the prosecution lawyer, who stated that the defendants gave their statements in the presence of a legal aid counsel, according to the testimony of the 10th witness.
In a brief ruling, Justice Nwite upheld the submission by prosecuting lawyer, Ayodeji Adedipe (SAN) that a trial-within-trial could only be ordered where the issue is about the voluntariness of the statement and not where a defendant denies making the statement, as it is in the case.
The witness SSJ had disclosed that the SSS had sufficient technical evidence to show that first to fourth defendants were around the church premises during the attack, explaining how cell phone analysis of the four men being prosecuted, placed them at the crime scene.
The DSS officer explained that the technical evidence showed that their phones and conversations were around the telecommunications cell site location around the attack.
According to the witness, aside the phone records’ analysis conducted by the SSS, the defendants voluntarily made confessional statements linking them to the attack.
The witness said the statement-taking session was witnessed by the Director of the Legal Aid Council when the defendants said they could not afford to have either their lawyers or family members around to witness the session.
He identified the five defendants, while giving details of how he obtained the confessional statements from the first to fourth defendants, which he said they offered voluntarily.
Earlier the 9th witness, with pseudo name SSI had given a vivid account of how the June 5, 2022 terror attack was planned and executed against the St Francis Catholic church in Owo.
The witness who is a Deputy Director in charge of Terrorism Investigation and led the DSS panel that investigated the deadly terror attack against the church, said that upon gathering intelligence, the SSS operatives arrested five persons in August 2022 in Kogi and Ondo states.
While noting that those arrested were Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Quasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris and Momoh Otuho Abubakar, the witness revealed how the attack was perfected, telling the court that the defendants, under the control of one, Odoba held a meeting on 30th May, 2022 at Government Secondary School, Ogaminana, Kogi state where one, Odoba passed instruction to them to attack the Catholic church in Owo.
He added that the instruction was clear to the effect that the attack should be carried out on Sunday and that the priest in charge of the court should be killed.
The 9th witness also noted that as a follow up to that meeting, a meeting was also called on Friday after Jumaat prayer where the father of the second and third defendants was the Chief Imam and that instruction was passed to the members of the Owo attack.
The witness noted that, the following Saturday, Abdulhaleem Idris travelled to Adavi where he hired a Volkswagen golf car, proceeded to Odoba who supplied them with five AK 47 riffles, ten magazines, live ammunition and explosive devices.
The witness confirmed that the defendants used two vehicles during the attack, adding that while the drove in a rented vehicle to the church, they snatched another vehicle from a worshipper, who was returning from church service, which they used as a get away vehicle.
SSI confirmed that the defendants used both explosives and several rounds of ammunition during the attack.
(Editor:Ada Ononye)
