Four people sentenced to death for massacre at Owo Catholic Church, fifth suspect acquitted

The Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced four men to death who were found guilty of participating in the deadly terrorist attack on St. Mary’s Catholic Church. Francis in Owo, Ondo State, an attack that claimed more than 40 lives and left more than 100 worshipers injured during a church service in June 2022.

Judge Emeka Nwite delivered the verdict on Wednesday after finding Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, 25, Al Qasim Idris, 20, Jamiu Abdulmalik, 26, and Abdulhaleem Idris, 25, guilty of nine terrorism charges brought before the court by the Department of State Services on behalf of the Federal Government.

But the court acquitted a fifth defendant, Momoh Otuho Abubakar, 47, ruling that prosecutors failed to provide sufficient evidence linking him to the attack.

In his ruling, Justice Nwite held that the prosecution proved its case against the four convicts beyond reasonable doubt, and concluded that the evidence presented demonstrated their active membership and participation in the terrorist network responsible for the massacre.

The court found that the convicts were members of an Al-Shabaab linked terrorist cell operating in Kogi State and were directly involved in carrying out the attack on the church during the Pentecost service on June 5, 2022.

According to evidence presented in court, the attackers stormed the church premises, trapped worshipers inside and launched a coordinated attack that resulted in numerous fatalities and injuries.

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Prosecutors told the court that the attackers used improvised explosive devices and AK-47 rifles during the operation, which they carried out to achieve an extremist religious agenda.

To support its case, the prosecutor called 11 witnesses and presented 23 pieces of evidence, including confessional statements allegedly made by the defendants and the findings of a digital forensic investigation.

Among the evidence received was a Technophone device said to contain communications exchanged by group members before and after the attack.

A Catholic priest who survived the massacre testified for the prosecution, recounting the horror that unfolded inside the church when the attackers allegedly detonated several explosive devices, causing chaos, panic and heavy casualties among the congregation.

After reviewing the evidence, Judge Nwite ruled that the prosecution had succeeded in linking the four men to the planning and execution of the attack, thereby making them responsible for the terrorism-related offenses filed against them.

The judge then sentenced the four convicts to death by hanging, and acquitted and acquitted the fifth defendant.