Justice finally caught up with four members of a terrorist group involved in the gruesome attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, as a Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday sentenced them to death by hanging.
The convicts Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik and Abdulhaleem Idris were found guilty of terrorism charges linked to the June 5, 2022 church massacre that claimed over 40 lives and left more than 100 worshippers injured.
Delivering judgment, Justice Emeka Nwite held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and established that the four men were active members of a terrorist cell responsible for the deadly attack.
The court, however, discharged and acquitted a fifth defendant, Momoh Otuho Abubakar, after ruling that there was insufficient evidence connecting him to the crime.
According to evidence presented before the court, the terrorists stormed the church during a Pentecost service, unleashing violence that resulted in heavy casualties among worshippers.
The prosecution told the court that the attackers used improvised explosive devices and assault rifles during the operation.
To secure the conviction, prosecutors called 11 witnesses and tendered 23 exhibits, including confessional statements and forensic evidence.
A surviving Catholic priest who testified before the court recounted how multiple explosive devices were detonated inside the church, throwing worshippers into panic and chaos.
Justice Nwite ruled that the totality of the evidence clearly linked the four convicts to the attack and justified their conviction and death sentence.
The judgment brings to a close one of Nigeria’s most high-profile terrorism trials arising from the Owo church massacre that shocked the nation and drew widespread condemnation across the world.
