- The Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced four members of the Al-Shabaab terrorist network to death by hanging for their roles in the horrific June 5, 2022, attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.
- The coordinated assault, carried out with improvised explosive devices and high-caliber rifles, claimed the lives of over 40 innocent worshippers and left more than 100 others with severe injuries.
- While the prosecution successfully established guilt against four of the cell members, the trial judge discharged and acquitted the fifth co-defendant due to insufficient evidence.
The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday handed down death sentences to four principal members of an Al-Shabaab terrorist cell for their direct involvement in the brutal massacre at St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.
Eko Hot Blog reports that the catastrophic attack, which occurred during a Pentecost Sunday service on June 5, 2022, resulted in the tragic deaths of more than 40 worshippers and caused severe injuries to over 100 individuals who had gathered for worship.
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Delivering the landmark judgment, the trial judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, ruled that the prosecution successfully proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt against the four convicts.
The convicted individuals, identified as Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (25), Al Qasim Idris (20), Jamiu Abdulmalik (26), and Abdulhaleem Idris (25), were found guilty on a comprehensive nine-count terrorism charge brought against them by the Department of State Services on behalf of the Federal Government.
Judicial findings confirmed that the convicts operated as core members of a specialized Al-Shabaab terrorist cell based out of Kogi State.
During the assault, the terrorists infiltrated the religious building, held the congregation hostage, and detonated multiple improvised explosive devices alongside continuous AK-47 gunfire to advance their extremist ideological goals.
To build its case, the prosecution team relied on testimonies from 11 witnesses, including a Catholic priest who survived the blast, and tendered 23 critical pieces of evidence.
Among the items admitted by Justice Nwite were explicit confessional statements from the suspects, a digital forensic examination report, and a communication device used to coordinate logistics before and immediately after the operation.
The court held that the totality of this forensic and eyewitness evidence conclusively linked the four men to the execution of the massacre.
Conversely, the court extended leniency to the fifth defendant in the trial, 47-year-old Momoh Otuho Abubakar. Justice Nwite declared that the prosecution failed to provide sufficient verifiable links connecting Abubakar to the active operational planning or execution of the church bombing, subsequently ordering his immediate discharge and acquittal.
The severe ruling provides a long-awaited layer of judicial accountability for the victims and survivors of one of the most devastating single-day terror attacks on a religious institution in the country’s recent history.
