A Federal High Court in Abuja has condemned four men to death by hanging for the June 2022 assault on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, which left dozens of worshippers dead.
Justice Emeka Nwite delivered the verdict on Wednesday, finding the four guilty on all nine counts of terrorism brought against them by the Federal Government through the Department of State Services.
The condemned are Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, 25; Al Qasim Idris, 20; Jamiu Abdulmalik, 26; and Abdulhaleem Idris, 25. A fifth accused, Momoh Otuho Abubakar, 47, was freed after the court ruled that no credible evidence tied him to the crime.
The attack happened on Pentecost Sunday, June 5, 2022. Worshippers had gathered for morning mass when the assailants stormed the church. They set off explosives and opened fire with AK-47 rifles. When the shooting stopped, more than 40 people were dead and over 100 others were wounded.
The court heard that the four convicts belonged to an Al-Shabaab terrorist cell based in Kogi State. They had planned the attack as part of their religious ideology.
During the trial, the prosecution presented 11 witnesses and submitted 23 pieces of evidence, including confessional statements, mobile phone records, and a forensic report. A priest who survived the attack told the court in graphic detail how three explosives were detonated inside the church while terrified worshippers screamed.
In his ruling, Justice Nwite stated that the evidence left no reasonable doubt that the four men were active members of a terrorist organisation and directly participated in the Owo church attack. He accordingly sentenced each of them to death by hanging.
The fifth defendant walked out of the courtroom a free man after the court found no proof of his involvement.
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