The Federal High Court in Abuja Presided over by Judge Emeka Nwite on Wednesday, 3 June, 2026 convicted four men over their involvement in the 2022 attack on St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.
Thegazellenews.com recalled that no fewer than 40 worshippers were killed and 140 others injured during the 5 June 2022 Sunday mass.
The Federal Government prosecuted in the course of the trial five defendants – Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, 25; Al Qasim Idris, 20; Jamiu Abdulmalik, 26; Abdulhaleem Idris, 25; and Momoh Otuho Abubakar, 47.
Justice Nwite delivered the judgment in the terrorism case after reviewing evidence presented by the prosecution and defence over three hours.
The judge held that the “prosecution has proven the charge against the defendants.”
He said it is “clear” that four of the defendants belonged to a proscribed terrorist group known as Al-Shabaab.
According to the prosecution, the attackers stormed the church, held worshippers hostage, and unleashed violence that resulted in massive casualties and destruction.
They were said to have used improvised explosive devices and AK-47 rifles in attacking furtherance of their extremist religious ideology. To establish its case, the prosecution called 11 witnesses and tendered 23 exhibits, including confessional statements and a digital forensic examination report.
Among the exhibits admitted by the court was a technophone device alleged to contain communications exchanged by the defendants before and after the attack.
One of the prosecution witnesses, a Catholic priest who survived the incident, gave a chilling account of how the assailants detonated at least three explosive devices inside the church, triggering panic and bloodshed among worshippers.
Justice Nwite held that the totality of the evidence presented by the prosecution firmly linked the four convicts to the attack and justified their conviction on the terrorism charges.
The court convicted the first to the fourth defendants on count one for belonging to the terrorist group and acquitted the fifth defendant on that count.
On count two, the court convicted the first third and fourth defendants. The judge said the prosecution’s evidence “remains credible” and was not effectively challenged by the defendants.
On count three, the court convicts the first to fourth defendants as the masterminds of the attack in connection with a meeting held on 30 May 2022, while the judge discharges and acquits the fifth defendant on that count.
On counts four and five, the court also convicts the first to fourth defendants, while the fifth defendant is discharged and acquitted.
On count six, the fifth defendant was charged mainly with financing terrorism in connection with the attack.
But the judge said that the prosecution “did not prove that he financed the attack, the judge discharged and acquitted the fifth defendant.”
More details here…
