Four terrorists convicted for the June 5, 2022 attack on Saint Francis Catholic Church, Owo, in Ondo State, have been sentenced to death by hanging.
An Abuja Federal High Court presided by Justice Emeka Nwite delivered judgment in the case on Wednesday.
Forty-three worshipers were killed in the attack.
Justice Nwite delivered the judgment on Wednesday in charge number FHC/ABJ/CR/301/2025, four years after gunmen and bombers stormed the church during a Pentecost Sunday service and opened fire on worshippers.
He said he was satisfied that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt against the four defendants.
The court held that the four convicted men were principal members of an Al-Shabaab terrorist cell operating in Kogi State who joined the group in 2021, attended planning meetings in Kogi and Ondo States on May 30 and June 4, 2022, and then invaded the church on June 5, holding worshippers hostage and using improvised explosive devices and AK-47 rifles in furtherance of their religious ideology.
The four convicts were among five defendants who had been standing trial on a nine-count charge relating to terrorism and other offences connected to the attack.
Those sentenced to death are:
Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (25);
Al Qasim Idris (20);
Jamiu Abdulmalik (26);
Abdulhaleem Idris (25).
The attack on the church resulted in the deaths of more than 40 worshippers, while over 100 others sustained injuries.
The fifth defendant, Momoh Otuho Abubakar (47), was discharged and acquitted by the court.
All five defendants had been arrested in August 2022 at different locations in Kogi and Ondo States, where they had been tracked using geospatial network filtering technology that isolated phone activity within the attack area.
The Owo church attack was one of the deadliest assaults on a place of worship in recent years and triggered widespread condemnation across Nigeria and beyond.
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