Coming three years after their arrest, the commencement of prosecution of some suspected terrorists, who attacked the St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, on June 5, 2022, and killed 40 worshippers, appears to have suffered a delay; but it nevertheless points to the intention of government to pursue the course of justice to its logical end. That intention is what Nigerians consider material, particularly given the high tragedy occasioned by the attack.
Five suspects have been arraigned before a Federal High Court in Abuja. This is a case many Nigerians are watching closely, given that trials of terrorists for criminal acts in the country are generally uncommon or not done openly, despite the pervasiveness of terrorist acts. Indeed, many suspects apprehended over acts of terror had, in the past, been taken to Abuja, where the cases evaporated. The arraignment of suspected perpetrators of the Owo massacre indicates that the matter has not been swept under the carpet. Indeed, the Federal Government should prosecute the suspects with a view to getting justice for the families of the victims of the heinous crime.
With the three years it took to arraign the suspects, it is expected that the government has done a thorough investigation to make the prosecution smooth. All necessary things should have been done and crucial information obtained before the trial began. The prosecutors should exercise due diligence in handling the case. Nigerians and foreigners alike are focusing on the government and the judiciary for the callous disregard for human life that was on display in Owo in 2022. It is expected that the prosecutors have garnered sufficient facts and evidence to even commence the trial. Many times in the past, Nigerians had watched helplessly as official handlers bungle high-profile criminal cases in court, thereby truncating the course of justice. While the suspects are presumed innocent under the Constitution, there should not be either direct or indirect sabotage of this case on the altar of technicalities. Generally, the case should be seen as a test of the political will of the Nigerian leaders and the judiciary to allow the rule of law to operate and get justice for the wronged, as well as prevent the innocent from being unjustly punished.
It was an unprovoked catastrophe in June 2022 when gunmen invaded the St. Francis Catholic Church toward the end of the service and detonated explosives while also opening fire on the worshippers who tried to escape the attack. At the end of the madness, 40 people were murdered and more than 100 others seriously injured. Family vacation packages
The unspeakable violence elicited the ire of Christians across the world, just as foreign governments and global institutions condemned the incident. They encouraged the Nigerian government to ensure that the perpetrators are made to face the wrath of the law.
After the attack, the military announced the arrest of some suspects. The then Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, made the initial announcement of four persons arrested on August 1, 2022, in a joint operation with other security agencies in Eika Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi State. He said one of the arrested suspects was a high-ranking member of the terrorist group known as Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP).
General Irabor told the nation that the suspect was planning more deadly attacks and had perfected his plans with his accomplices before he was arrested. Later in a statement, the military announced the arrest of two additional suspects on August 9, 2022, at Omialafara in Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State. The then-Governor Rotimi Akeredolu also disclosed the arrest of another person who allegedly housed the suspects before they struck.
Then, General Irabor told Nigerians that the military would have paraded the suspects but could not do so because of some investigations that were still ongoing, promising that in due course, they would be exposed to the whole world.
Since then, not much was either heard or discussed about the massacre until recently, when Owo town was in the news again with the Nigerian police alerting the country to a fresh plot to attack another church in the embattled community. The news set Nigerians curious about the rationale and the suspects arrested over the 2022 attack. The government was variously challenged to prosecute the suspected attackers with a view to getting justice for the victims and preventing the recurrence of the tragedy. The Department of State Services (DSS) on August 11, 2025, arraigned five men before a Federal High Court in Abuja over their alleged involvement in the Owo killings. It was learnt that those arraigned, among others, are also being accused of being members of an Islamic terrorist group known as Al-Shabaab.
Again, the need for diligent trial of the case cannot be overemphasised, as Nigerians and the rest of the world are deeply interested in the trial and are seriously watching the proceedings. Beside the allegations against the suspects, what is also on trial in the case is the political will of the leaders to tackle terrorism by allowing the law to take its full course, and the professional courage and commitment of the judicial officials to impartially deliver justice without fear or favour in the overall task of making Nigeria a country where life and property are actually seen to be safe.
There should be no interference from any person or quarter in the trial that can lead to the innocent being made to suffer unjustly or the wronged being denied justice. Local and international support for the anti-terrorism fight in the country may be boosted by the way the litigation is managed.
Nigerians also want to know, through the trial, the reason for the attack. Owo is located in the South-West region, lying outside the typical range of the Nigeria-based terrorist groups, including the Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) operating in the northern part of the country, while the sphere of operation of Al-Shabab, to which the suspects are being linked as members, is even farther away.
Nigerians also hoped that the trial would reveal the sponsors and financiers of terror in the country, and the hidden motive behind the deadly attack, among other useful information.
Source; The Guardian News
