Did Justice Omotoso Escape An Assassination Attempt?
On November 23, 2025, an X user @agnes_nwanneka claimed that Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja narrowly survived an assassination attempt. The post had an image of a bullet-riddled car with onlookers in the frame and captioned, “Justice Omotoso escapes assassination attempt Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja narrowly survived an assassination attempt early this morning, just days after handing down a life sentence to Nnamdi Kanu. He was rushed to a hospital, while security forces scrambled to secure the area. His car was riddled with bullets, which was an indication of a calculated attempt to snuff life out of him .”
When this report was published, the post had about 454,500 views and about 2,442 replies, reposts, quotes, likes and bookmarks. In the comment section, @wavy_tycoon said “He just passed a major judgment and someone tried to take his life? That’s a chilling message.” while @Faisalmamuu wrote “I can't believe we are sharing the country with this imbeciles🤦 just because a terrorist was justly sentenced they're now trying to kill the judge.”
VERIFICATION
When NV-A subjected the attached image to reverse google image search, it was discovered that the picture is not related to the claim. The image had originally emerged in August 7, 2022, when popular celebrity barman, Okechukwu Pascal, popularly known as Cubana Chiefpriest, escaped unhurt from an armed attack in Anambra State.
Justice James Kolawole Omotosho is a Nigerian jurist serving as a judge of the Federal High Court. Appointed as a judge of the Federal High Court on February 12, 2015, He sits in the Abuja division, which handles many high-profile and politically sensitive cases. He presided over the Nnamdi Kanu trial, a controversial high-profile case in Nigeria. In that trial, he dismissed a bail application by Kanu, sentencing him to life imprisonment for several terrorism-related counts.
The Federal High Court, through its Chief Registrar, Sulaiman Amida Hassan, issued a public statement calling the assassination-attempt report “completely false and unfounded.” The statement specifically asked the public to treat the post as “fake news” and refrain from sharing it. The Court also urged security agencies to investigate the origin of the report, saying the false claim could undermine confidence in the judiciary and might be a form of intimidation.
CONCLUSION
The claim that Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja narrowly survived an assassination attempt is FALSE. The Federal High Court has formally denied the report, calling it “fake news” and urging the public to stop spreading it.
