– Abuja, Nigeria
A Federal High Court in Abuja sentenced four men to death by hanging on Wednesday for their involvement in the deadly June 5, 2022, attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State. Judge Emeka Nwite found Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, and Abdulhaleem Idris guilty of nine terrorism charges. The charges included hostage-taking, kidnapping, financing terrorism, and detonating explosives that caused death and injury. A fifth defendant was acquitted due to lack of evidence.
In addition to the death penalty, the four convicted men received symbolic life sentences for belonging to a terrorist organization and 20 years in prison each for conspiracy. The men had pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial. The attack on the church in June 2022, during a Sunday service, remains one of the deadliest attacks on a place of worship in Nigerian history, claiming dozens of lives.
According to court documents, the men allegedly joined the East African militant group al-Shabaab in 2021 up and planned other attacks, including one on a public school and another near a mosque. However, al-Shabaab did not claim responsibility for the attack on the church in Owo, and its operational presence in Nigeria remains unverified. Authorities initially suspected the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), although neither ISWAP nor Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the attack.
This verdict is expected to be seen as an important test for the Nigerian judicial system in handling high-profile terrorism cases amid the country’s persistent security challenges.