A federal high court in Abuja convicted four men for their part in the June 5, 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.
Out of the five suspects first brought in, four were found guilty on every one of the nine counts the federal government filed against them. The men — Idris Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris, and Momoh Otuho Abubakar — had been arraigned on August 11 to face the terrorism charges.
Prosecutors said the group joined Al-Shabaab in 2021 and ran a cell in Kogi state. They claimed the defendants met in Kogi and Ondo during 2022 to map out the church attack. The accusations included setting off IEDs and opening fire with AK-47 rifles. More than 40 people were killed and over 100 others wounded.
The government argued the assault was meant to advance the group’s religious ideology. Those actions violate the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
