ABUJA — A federal court in Abuja sentenced four men to death for the June 5, 2022, attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, that killed at least 50 people. The four men were convicted of terrorism charges related to the massacre, which occurred as Sunday mass was ending.
Children were among those killed, and scores of others were wounded in the attack, overwhelming local hospital staff. One witness testified during the trial that she had her legs amputated below the knees and lost her left eye due to a dynamite explosion detonated by the attackers.
The convicted men—Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, and Abdulhaleem Idris—were also sentenced to 20 years in prison for belonging to a terrorist group. Judge Emeka Nwite presided over the case and stated that the evidence against the defendants was “neither shaken nor contradicted during cross examination.”
Nwite said that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt by presenting witnesses who saw the attack, including one who recognized two defendants as attackers. “Hence this court finds the first to fourth defendants guilty of all nine counts.” The charges included joining a terror group and planning and carrying out killings.
Prosecutors alleged the defendants were members of the al-Shabab militant group and operated from a cell in Kogi State, about 200 kilometers from Nigeria’s capital. A fifth defendant, Momoh Otuho Abubakar, was acquitted due to insufficient evidence. Abubakar had been accused of financing the attack by receiving 800,000 naira twice from another suspect and disbursing the funds to the attackers, but he claimed the money came from his farming business and cooperative society activities.
“Justice has been served, justice has been done to the deceased who were murdered in cold blood.” The defendants’ defense lawyer said they would appeal the sentence. During the trial, the defendants claimed they had been tortured, including being hung from the ceiling, beaten repeatedly, and subjected to electric shocks on their genitals. Presidential assent is required before any death sentence is carried out in Nigeria, and there have not been any executions in the country for several years.