*Discharges, acquits fifth defendant

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday convicted four men accused by the Department of State Services (DSS) of carrying out the June 2022 terrorist attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, which claimed the lives of over 40 worshippers.

The court sentenced the four men to death by hanging.

Delivering judgment, trial judge Justice Emeka Nwite held that the prosecution successfully proved the terrorism charges against the defendants beyond a reasonable doubt. However, the court discharged and acquitted the fifth defendant, 47-year-old Momoh Otuho Abubakar.

Four of the five suspects initially arraigned were convicted on all nine counts filed against them by the Federal Government. The convicts are Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, 25; Al Qasim Idris, 20; Jamiu Abdulmalik, 26; and Abdulhaleem Idris, 25.

The five defendants — Idris Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris, and Momoh Otuho Abubakar — were arraigned on August 11, 2022, on a nine-count terrorism charge.

Justice Nwite held that evidence presented before the court established that the four convicted men belonged to and actively participated in the activities of the terrorist group responsible for the church attack.

The Federal Government alleged that the suspects joined the Al-Shabaab terrorist group in 2021 and operated a cell in Kogi State.

According to the prosecution, the defendants held meetings in Kogi and Ondo states in 2022, during which they planned the church attack.

They were accused of detonating improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and carrying out the assault with AK-47 rifles, resulting in the deaths of more than 40 people and injuries to over 100 others.

In the nine-count terrorism charge, the DSS accused the convicts of belonging to foreign terrorist groups and being responsible for the Owo massacre.