…Discharges, Acquits Fifth Defendant
A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, convicted and sentenced to death four terrorists accused by the Department of State Services (DSS) of carrying out the June 2022 deadly attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, in which over 40 worshippers were killed.
The court ordered that the four sentenced terrorists are to die by hanging.
In his judgement, the court presided over by Justice Emeka Nwite, held that the prosecution successfully proved the case of terrorism against the four men beyond reasonable doubt. The trial judge however, discharged and acquitted the fifth accused person- 47-year-old Momoh Otuho Abubakar.
Four of the five suspects initially arraigned were convicted on all nine counts preferred against them by the federal government.
The four convicts namely; Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza -25, Al Qasim Idris – 20, Jamiu Abdulmalik – 26 and Abdulhaleem Idris – 25, were arraigned on August 11, 2022, on a nine-count terrorism charge.
Justice Nwite held that evidence before the court established that the four convicts belonged to and actively participated in the activities of the terrorist group, which included the church attack.
The federal government through the Department of State Services told the court that the suspects joined the Al-Shabaab terrorist group in 2021 and operated a cell in Kogi state.
The prosecution further told the court that the defendants held meetings in Kogi and Ondo States in 2022, where they planned the church attack.
The convicts were accused of detonating improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and carrying out the assault with AK-47 rifles which resulted in the deaths of over 40 people and injured more than 100 others.
In the nine-count terrorism charge, the DSS accused the convicts of being members of foreign terror groups and being responsible for the Owo massacre.
