A Federal High Court in Abuja has convicted four persons over their involvement in the June 5, 2022, attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.
Four out of the five suspects initially arraigned were convicted on all nine counts preferred against them by the federal government.
The suspects Idris Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris, and Momoh Otuho Abubakar were arraigned on August 11, 2022, on a nine-count terrorism charge.
Delivering judgment on Wednesday, Emeka Nwite, the presiding judge, held that he was satisfied that the prosecution proved its case against four defendants beyond a reasonable doubt.
Those convicted are Omeiza, Idris, Abdulmalik, and Idris. Abubakar was discharged for lack of evidence linking him to the attack.
Nwite held that evidence before the court established that the four defendants belonged to and actively participated in the activities of the terrorist group, which included the church attack.
He convicted the four defendants and sentenced them to death by hanging.
The Case
The federal government alleged that the suspects joined the Al-Shabaab terrorist group in 2021 and operated a cell in Kogi State.
According to the prosecution, the defendants held meetings in Kogi and Ondo in 2022, where they planned the church attack.
They were accused of detonating improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and carrying out the assault with AK-47 rifles, resulting in the deaths of over 40 people and injuries to more than 100 others.
The government said the attack was carried out to further the group’s religious ideology, offences punishable under the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
To prove the case, the prosecution called 11 witnesses who testified before the court and tendered 23 exhibits in evidence.
Among the items the court admitted in evidence were confessional statements and a digital forensic examination report, tendered alongside a Tecno phone alleged to contain communications exchanged by the defendants before and after the terror attack.
Testifying as the first prosecution witness, a Catholic priest who presided over the Pentecost Sunday Mass testified that the church service was about to end when gunshots suddenly rang out, causing panic among worshippers.
The priest said he heard explosions and continuous gunfire, describing the scene as chaotic and terrifying.
He said many worshippers were killed and injured, likening the experience to the ground opening beneath them.
The second prosecution witness identified the second and fourth defendants as part of those who attacked worshippers.
The third defendant, a church member and student, told the court how explosives detonated during the attack damaged her left leg, leading to four surgeries and skin grafting.
She also said her two-year-old cousin died from a gunshot wound to the head.
The fourth witness lost both legs above the knees and her left eye during the attack.
