Abuja Court Sentences Four to Death for Owo Church Attack

A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced four men to death by hanging for their roles in a deadly 2022 attack on a Catholic church in southwestern Nigeria. The court found the men guilty on terrorism charges related to the assault on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, which killed more than 40 worshippers and injured over 100 others.

Justice Emeka Nwite delivered the judgment on Wednesday, convicting Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, 25; Al Qasim Idris, 20; Jamiu Abdulmalik, 26; and Abdulhaleem Idris, 25. A fifth defendant, Momoh Otuho Abubakar, 47, was discharged and acquitted after the court found insufficient evidence linking him to the crime. The four convicted men were found guilty on multiple counts of a nine-count terrorism charge filed by the Department of State Services on behalf of the federal government.

Justice Nwite ruled that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt, establishing that the four were members of a terrorist group and actively participated in the church attack. The court heard that the men were principal members of an Al-Shabaab terrorist cell operating from Kogi State. Prosecutors alleged the group planned the attack during...