The Department of State Services (DSS) on Thursday arraigned Abdulmalik Abdulazeez Obadaki, the man accused of masterminding the 2012 attack on the Deeper Life Bible Church in Okene, Kogi State. His appearance before a Federal High Court in Abuja comes just days after the security agency secured a separate conviction in another terrorism case.
Obadaki is facing a six-count terrorism charge brought by the DSS. He pleaded guilty only to the allegation that he escaped from lawful custody, but he denied the remaining charges linked to terrorism, conspiracy, and aiding criminal activities. Following his plea, the presiding judge, Justice Joyce Obehi Abdulmalik, adjourned the case until January 26, 2026, to allow the court review the facts relating to his guilty plea and hear the contested counts. The court also ordered that he remain in DSS custody pending the next hearing.
Obadaki has long been linked to several violent incidents following the Okene church attack. He is believed to have led a gang that carried out multiple bank robberies in Uromi, Edo State, during which several people were killed and large sums of money carted away. He was eventually arrested and remanded at the Kuje Correctional Centre but escaped during the July 2022 jailbreak, an incident he reportedly confessed to orchestrating after being transferred from the Kabba Custodial Centre weeks earlier.
In a separate case heard the same day, the DSS also arraigned social media user Innocent Chukwuemeka, who was accused of using his X account to advocate for a coup in Nigeria. He was charged with making false publications capable of causing public panic and engaging in cyberstalking. Chukwuemeka pleaded not guilty, and his trial was also adjourned to January 26, 2026, with the court ordering that he remain in DSS custody until proceedings resume.
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