Exactly four years after one of the most horrific religious targeted onslaughts in modern Nigerian history, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has sentenced four principal members of the Al-Shabaab terrorist group to death by hanging.
The severe judicial declaration was delivered on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, by presiding judge Justice Emeka Nwite, following the successful, multi-year prosecution of the masterminds behind the June 5, 2022, massacre at St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.
The catastrophic attack had resulted in the brutal murder of over 40 innocent Christian worshippers and left more than 100 others permanently maimed during a sacred Pentecost Sunday service.
The four convicts—identified as Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (25), Al Qasim Idris (20), Jamiu Abdulmalik (26), and Abdulhaleem Idris (25)—were found guilty on a rigorous nine-count terrorism charge filed systematically by the Department of State Services (DSS) on behalf of the Federal Government.
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Conversely, the court discharged and acquitted the fifth defendant, 47-year-old Momoh Abubakar, due to insufficient evidentiary links connecting him to the execution of the plot.
To secure the conviction, the state presented 11 witnesses and tendered 23 critical forensic exhibits, including detailed confessional statements and an analyzed Technophone device containing digital communications exchanged by the cell immediately before and after unleashing their AK-47 rifles and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
Ondo State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, and the Olowo of Owo, Oba Ajibade Ogunoye, both expressed immense satisfaction with the verdict, describing it as an unyielding victory for the rule of law.
While the Catholic Bishop of Ondo Diocese, Jude Arogundade, commended the judicial courage, he solemnly noted that the deep psychological scars remain, highlighting a tragic case where a local seminarian lost both parents in the carnage.
#OwoChurchAttack #StFrancisCatholicChurch #JusticeForOwo #LuckyAiyedatiwa #EmekaNwite #TerrorismConviction #OndoState #DSSNigeria
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