Court sentences four Al-Shabaab members to death over Owo church attack

A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced four members of the Al-Shabaab terrorist group to death by hanging for their roles in the 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, which killed over 40 worshippers, while a fifth defendant was acquitted.

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday sentenced four members of the Al-Shabaab terrorist group to death by hanging for their involvement in the June 5, 2022, attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, which left more than 40 worshippers dead and over 100 others injured. The trial judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, delivered the judgment after convicting 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 on behalf of the Federal Government.

The court, however, discharged and acquitted the fifth defendant, Momoh Otuho Abubakar, 47, after finding insufficient evidence linking him to the attack. In his judgment, Justice Nwite held that the prosecution proved the case against the four convicts beyond reasonable doubt, stating that evidence showed they were active members of a terrorist cell responsible for the assault.

The court found that the convicts were principal members of an Al-Shabaab cell operating in Kogi State and that they participated directly in the attack during a Pentecost service. According to the prosecution, the attackers stormed the church, held worshippers hostage, and carried out a coordinated assault using improvised explosive devices and AK-47 rifles, resulting in mass casualties and widespread destruction in furtherance of their extremist ideology.

READ THE FULL STORY IN PUNCH