The Department of State Services (DSS) has asked the Federal High Court in Abuja to sentence to death five men standing trial over the 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.
Justice Emeka Nwite reserved judgment on Tuesday after lawyers for both the prosecution and defence adopted their final written addresses in the case.
According to TheCable, the judge said the date for judgment would be communicated to all parties.
Counsel to the DSS, Ayodeji Adedipe, urged the court to convict the defendants and impose the maximum penalty, citing the gravity of the attack that shocked the country in June 2022.
The five defendants are Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al-Qasim Idris, Abdulhaleem Idris and Momoh Otuho Abubakar.
Defence counsel Abdullahi Mohammad, however, asked the court to discharge and acquit the suspects, arguing that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.
The suspects were arrested over the June 5, 2022 assault on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, which reportedly killed 41 worshippers and injured more than 140 others.
During the trial, the DSS presented 11 witnesses and tendered several exhibits, including alleged confessional statements and a digital forensic report. Prosecutors also submitted a mobile phone said to contain communications exchanged among the defendants before and after the attack.
