The Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced four members of the Al-Shabaab terrorist group to death by hanging for their roles in the June 5, 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.
The attack occurred during a Pentecost service and left more than 40 worshippers dead, while over 100 others sustained injuries.
Delivering judgment on Wednesday, Justice Emeka Nwite convicted Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, 25; Al Qasim Idris, 20; Jamiu Abdulmalik, 26; and Abdulhaleem Idris, 25, on a nine-count terrorism charge filed by the Department of State Services (DSS) on behalf of the Federal Government.
The court, however, discharged and acquitted the fifth defendant, Momoh Otuho Abubakar, 47, ruling that the prosecution failed to provide sufficient evidence linking him to the attack.
Justice Nwite held that the prosecution proved its case against the four convicted men beyond reasonable doubt. The court found that they were members of an Al-Shabaab terrorist cell operating in Kogi State and actively participated in the deadly assault on the church.
According to the prosecution, the attackers stormed the church during worship, held congregants hostage and carried out the attack using improvised explosive devices and AK-47 rifles in furtherance of their extremist religious ideology.
During the trial, the prosecution presented 11 witnesses and tendered 23 exhibits, including confessional statements and a digital forensic examination report. Among the exhibits admitted by the court was a Tecno mobile phone said to contain communications exchanged by the defendants before and after the attack.
A Catholic priest who survived the attack testified that the assailants detonated at least three explosive devices inside the church, triggering panic and causing multiple deaths and injuries among worshippers.
Justice Nwite ruled that the totality of the evidence firmly linked the four defendants to the terrorist attack and justified their conviction. The court subsequently sentenced all four convicts to death by hanging.
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