Court Sentences Four To Death Over 2022 Owo Church Massacre

Photo Credit: BBC

The Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced four men to death by hanging for their roles in the June 5, 2022 terrorist attack on Saint Francis Catholic Church, where more than 40 worshippers were killed during a Pentecost Sunday service.

Delivering judgment, Justice Emeka Nwite convicted Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik and Abdulhaleem Idris on all nine counts brought against them by the Department of State Services.

The court, however, discharged and acquitted the fifth defendant, Momoh Otuho Abubakar, after ruling that the prosecution failed to establish its case against him beyond reasonable doubt.

According to the judgment, the four convicts were found guilty of offences including membership of a proscribed terrorist organisation, conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism, kidnapping, hostage-taking and participation in the attack that claimed dozens of lives.

Justice Nwite held that the prosecution had successfully proven the charges against the defendants beyond reasonable doubt.

For belonging to a banned terrorist group identified in court as Al-Shabab, an affiliate of Islamic State West Africa Province, the defendants received life imprisonment. They were also sentenced to 20 years in prison on conspiracy-related counts.

However, the court imposed the death penalty on counts relating to kidnapping, hostage-taking and acts of terrorism connected to the church attack.

The prosecution argued that the defendants participated in the assault during which gunmen opened fire on worshippers and detonated explosive devices inside and around the church, killing at least 40 people and injuring many others.

The DSS linked the suspects to the attack through witness testimonies, phone-tracking evidence, cell tower data and confessional statements presented during the trial.

During proceedings, the prosecution called 11 witnesses, including survivors, church members, security operatives and forensic investigators. Among them was a survivor who testified from a wheelchair after reportedly losing both legs and an eye in the attack.

The defence challenged the admissibility of the defendants’ confessional statements, alleging they were obtained through torture and intimidation while in custody.

According to the defendants, they were subjected to physical abuse and electric shocks to force them to confess and implicate the fifth accused person as the group’s leader.

Their request for a trial-within-trial to determine the voluntariness of the statements was dismissed after the prosecution argued that the defendants had signed and thumb-printed the documents. The court subsequently ruled that the challenge did not warrant a separate hearing.

The Owo church attack remains one of Nigeria’s deadliest terrorist incidents in recent years, shocking the nation after worshippers attending Mass were attacked in broad daylight. While no group officially claimed responsibility at the time, investigations later linked the incident to extremists associated with ISWAP.