The Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced four men to death by hanging for their roles in the June 5, 2022, terrorist attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State. The assault resulted in over 40 deaths and left more than 100 worshippers injured.

Justice Emeka Nwite delivered the verdict after convicting Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, 25; Al Qasim Idris, 20; Jamiu Abdulmalik, 26; and Abdulhaleem Idris, 25, on a nine-count terrorism charge. The case was prosecuted by the Department of State Services on behalf of the Federal Government.

Conversely, the court discharged and acquitted the fifth defendant, 47-year-old Momoh Otuho Abubakar, citing insufficient evidence to connect him to the incident.

Case Details and Evidence

In his judgment, Justice Nwite ruled that the prosecution proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. The court established that the four convicted individuals were principal members of an Al-Shabaab terrorist cell based in Kogi State and actively participated in the Owo church assault.

The prosecution demonstrated that the attackers disrupted a Pentecost Sunday service, detonated at least three improvised explosive devices, and opened fire on the congregation with AK-47 rifles to advance an extremist ideology.

To secure the convictions, the state presented 11 witnesses and tendered 23 exhibits. The evidence included:

• Confessional statements from the defendants.

• A digital forensic examination report.

• A mobile device containing communications sent between the defendants before and after the massacre.

• Eyewitness testimony from a surviving Catholic priest who detailed the coordinated explosions and subsequent panic.

Justice Nwite concluded that the cumulative weight of the evidence firmly established the defendants' guilt, justifying the capital sentence.