Owo Church Attack: DSS Forensic Expert Links Accused to Owo Church Attack

By Mercy Omotosho 

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Thursday heard detailed digital forensic evidence linking the defendants in the June 5, 2022 attack on St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church to the crime scene, as the prosecution formally closed its case.

Trial judge, Emeka Nwite, also admitted the fifth defendant’s statement and a Techno mobile phone allegedly traced to the first defendant as exhibits before adjourning the matter to March 4 and 5, 2026, for the defence to open its case.

The five defendants are being prosecuted by the Department of State Services (DSS) on terrorism charges over the attack that left about 40 worshippers dead and several others injured.

At the resumed hearing, the matter was slated for continuation of trial and cross-examination of DSS investigator, SSJ.

Under cross examination by defence counsel A.A. Mohammed, the witness confirmed that although he did not personally record the fifth defendant’s statement, the defendant made a statement to the service which was recorded by another investigator.

The prosecution applied to tender the original statement dated November 9, 2022. There was no objection from the defence.

Justice Nwite admitted the document and marked it as Exhibit S.

During cross-examination, SSJ maintained that he recorded the statements of the first to fourth defendants individually on August 18, 2022.

“They informed me individually that they cannot write perfectly well in English language,” he said, adding that he asked each of them whether they could write their statements themselves before proceeding.

The witness told the court that the exercise took an average of 10 hours, with each defendant interviewed separately on the same day.

When asked about their educational qualifications, he said the second and fourth defendants were the least educated but admitted he did not memorise the exact qualifications of the others.

“I only took their statements,” he said.

Defence counsel suggested that other statements were taken in Ondo and Lokoja DSS offices, but the prosecution objected, arguing that under Section 232 of the Evidence Act, any prior written statement intended for contradiction must first be shown to the witness.

Justice Nwite sustained the objection and overruled the question.

On the issue of official stamps on the statements, the witness said, “What I know is that I only took statements.

The issue of the stamp was handled by the legal department.”

Custody and DSS Decision

In a tense exchange, defence counsel questioned why the defendants were only being brought to court years after their arrest in 2022.

The witness responded, “They made confessional statements. The issue of bringing them to court now is absolutely the decision of the DSS Director-General.”

He repeatedly told the court that his role was limited to taking statements and that DSS operations follow the “need to know” principle.

“I don’t work in custody,” he said. “My office operates on the principle of need to know.”

At one point, when defence counsel said, “I put it to you,” the witness replied, “I put it back, sir,” drawing a stern warning from the judge.

“We don’t tolerate that,” Justice Nwite cautioned.

The witness was subsequently discharged without re-examination.

The prosecution then called a second witness, SSK, a senior DSS operative and digital forensic lead with 29 years of service.

SSK told the court he holds master’s degrees in forensic science and information technology and specialises in converting raw data into “forensic actionable intelligence that meets international standards for judicial admissibility.”

He testified that following the attack, the DSS Director-General directed his team to trace, locate and apprehend the perpetrators.

“We applied geospatial network filtering and cell tower triangulation,” he said.

According to him, thousands of mobile devices that connected to cell towers around Owo, Elegbeka and Ifon were filtered.

“We narrowed it down to one of the defendants’ phone numbers identified as Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza,” he said.

He explained that the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number — a unique digital fingerprint for each phone — enabled the team to trace and arrest the first defendant.

“No two phones have the same IMEI,” he said. “This enabled us to trace, locate and arrest the first defendant.”

He added that further frequency-of-communication analysis revealed bidirectional calls between three of the defendants between March 1 and July 30, 2022, both before and after the attack.

The prosecution tendered the digital forensic examination report, which the court admitted as Exhibit T.

A black Techno mobile phone said to belong to the first defendant was also tendered without objection and admitted as Exhibit U.

SSK told the court that on June 5, 2022, at about 7:23 a.m., the first defendant’s phone was triangulated within a 35-kilometre radius of the church — a distance he said could be covered in 30 to 40 minutes by car.

“Even though the first defendant applied a no-phone-call rule as a trained terrorist, his mobile phone was active,” he said.

He described the phone’s movement across cell towers as a “silent witness” revealing pre-attack and post-attack movements.

Under cross-examination, defence counsel questioned the witness’s qualifications and demanded to see his certificates.

“My appointment is gazetted,” the witness replied. “Most of my trainings were sponsored by my service. I work with a covert organisation.”

Asked to provide the exact date he was directed to begin forensic work, he declined, citing operational secrecy, but said investigations began immediately after the June 5, 2022 attack.

He said the first defendant was arrested in Eika, Kogi State, and that all defendants were arrested in August, though in different locations across Kogi and Ondo states.

When asked why only one phone was brought to court, he said, “I brought only one phone because of its relevance to the cross-examination.

After the testimony, the prosecution announced it was closing its case.

Defence counsel applied for the provision of an interpreter in Ebira language for the five defendants, who are from Kogi State.

Justice Nwite adjourned the matter to March 4 and 5, 2026, for the defence to open its case.