The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested the sixth person involved in the 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, in which over 40 worshippers were killed and many injured.
Five individuals were taken into custody by the service: Momoh Abubakar (47), Abdulhaleem Idris (25), Jamiu Abdulmalik (26), Idris Omeiza (25), and Al Qasim Idris (20).
The defendants are presently on trial for allegedly committing terrorist attacks in Abuja.
The suspect, known as Sani Yusuf, was apprehended in the Iguosa community along Powerline in the Ovia North Local Government Area of Edo State on Wednesday by DSS agents who had been after him for years, according to a security source.
The source claims that Yusuf, a well-known commander of the Islamic State West Africa Province, had moved to Kano momentarily following the attack on the Owo church before settling in the Edo neighborhood.
The source said, “Our operatives had been on Sani Yusuf for years but arrested him at Iguosa community, along Powerline in Ovia North Local Government Area of Edo State. Yusuf is a high-profile commander of the Islamic State West Africa Province.
“He had, after the Owo church attack, temporarily slipped into Kano before deciding to relocate to the sleepy community in Edo State. He has confessed to being involved in the planning and execution of the Owo church massacre.”
Another source stated that, beyond the Owo attack, the suspect was involved in the July 2022 Suleja military barracks attack and kidnappings in Kaduna State and surrounding areas.
“He said he was involved in the Zuma Rock checkpoint assault, which claimed the lives of five soldiers, and several ISWAP kidnapping operations.
“Yusuf also disclosed that he served under other ISWAP top commanders like Abu Ikirimah, who was arrested by the DSS in 2024,” the source added.
In order to stop these cells from establishing new operational bases, Yusuf’s capture in Edo State implies that the DSS is monitoring their migration into peri-urban areas and southern woodlands.
One of the bloodiest events in Southwest Nigeria is still the June 5, 2022, attack on the Owo Church.
Gunmen opened fire on congregants and detonated bombs during a Pentecost Sunday service. There were more than 40 fatalities, including women and children.
In the past, Southwest Nigeria was mostly shielded from the intense insurgency in the Northeast. Fears that terror groups, particularly ISWAP, were extending their operational theater much outside their established bases were heightened by this strike.
