A Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday sentenced four men to death by hanging for their roles in the deadly attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, which claimed over 40 lives and left more than 100 worshippers injured.
The trial judge, Emeka Nwite, handed down the verdict after finding the quartet guilty on a nine-count terrorism charge brought by the Department of State Services on behalf of the Federal Government.
Those convicted are Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, 25; Al-Qasim Idris, 20; Jamiu Abdulmalik, 26; and Abdulhaleem Idris, 25.
However, the court discharged and acquitted a fifth defendant, Momoh Otuho Abubakar, 47, citing insufficient evidence linking him to the attack.
In his judgment, Justice Nwite held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt, stressing that the evidence established the convicts as active members of a terrorist cell linked to the assault.
The court found that the group operated from Kogi State and participated directly in the June 5, 2022 attack on the Catholic church during a Pentecost service.
According to the prosecution, the assailants stormed the church, held worshippers hostage and carried out a coordinated assault using improvised explosive devices and AK-47 rifles, leading to widespread casualties and destruction.
To secure the conviction, the prosecution presented 11 witnesses and tendered 23 exhibits, including confessional statements and a digital forensic report. A mobile device admitted in evidence reportedly contained communications exchanged by the defendants before and after the attack.
A Catholic priest who survived the incident testified before the court, recounting how the attackers detonated multiple explosive devices inside the church, causing panic and heavy loss of life.
Justice Nwite ruled that the totality of the evidence firmly linked the convicts to the attack, describing them as principal actors in the massacre.
The Owo church attack, one of Nigeria’s deadliest in recent years, had drawn national and international outrage, with renewed calls at the time for stronger security measures to protect places of worship.
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