Crime
BREAKING: OWO CHURCH ATTACK: Court Sentences 4 to Death by Hanging (Video)
……One Discharged and Acquitted
The Federal High Court in Abuja Nigeria has sentenced four men to death by hanging for carrying out the deadly June 5, 2022 attack on Saint Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State where over 40 worshippers were killed.
These are four of the five defendants, who have been standing trial on a nine-count terrorism charge filed by the Department of State Services (DSS). They are Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (25), Al Qasim Idris (20), Jamiu Abdulmalik (26), and Abdulhaleem Idris (25) while the fifth defendant Momoh Otuho Abubakar (47) was discharged and acquitted.
In his verdict, Justice Emeka Nwite convicted the four defendants on all nine counts of committing acts of terrorism in breach of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act citing crimes including membership of a proscribed terrorist group – Al-Shabab (an ISWAP affiliate), conspiracy to commit terrorist act, and kidnapping hostage-taking and for killing the over 40 worshippers.
Justice Nwite held that the prosecution had proved its case against the convicts beyond reasonable doubt. The judge however held that the prosecution failed to prove its case against the fifth defendant.
The prosecution linked the defendants to the Owo attack through witness identifications, phone tracking data, cell tower records, and confessional statements. The suspects, alleged to be members of the Al-Shabaab a terrorist group affiliated to ISWAP. The group operates mainly in Okene, Kogi State. The defendants pleaded not guilty when arraigned in August 2025.
The DSS called 11 witnesses with 23 documents tendered in evidence during its case. These included attack survivors (one of whom testified from a wheelchair after losing both legs and an eye), a Catholic priest who was conducting the Mass, church members, Amotekun security operatives, and DSS investigators with digital forensic expertise.
Several witnesses testified under protection with coded identities. A total of 23 documents were tendered in evidence by the DSS during the case.
The prosecution, led by counsel Ayodeji Adedipe, had urged the court to convict the defendants and impose the maximum punishment of death by firing squad or hanging, citing the gravity of the offence.
The defence presented its case, with most of the defendants taking the witness stand to testify in their defence.
A trial-within-a-trial was conducted over the admissibility of the defendants’ confessional statements, which the defence claimed were obtained under duress.
They claimed they were stripped them, subjected to beatings and torture including electric shocks to their stomach and genitals to force them to admit guilt to the Owo church attack. The DSS operatives allegedly said ‘they must either confess or die.’
The four defendants alleged that they were also promised to pay them handsomely if they indicted the fifth defendant, Momoh Otuho Abubakar, as the operational leader of the deadly Owo Church attack.
Justice Emeka Nwite presided over the matter, which had previously faced several delays but progressed steadily in 2025 and 2026.
The Owo church attack remains one of the most heinous acts of terrorism in recent Nigerian history. No group officially claimed responsibility at the time, though suspicions initially pointed toward Islamic State-affiliated factions.
The Kogi State Police Command has confirmed that 10 of the 15 National Youth Service Corps members abducted by suspected bandits along the Aloma–Egane Expressway in Ofu Local Government Area have been rescued.
Commissioner of Police Naziru Bello Kankarofi said security operatives are combing surrounding forests and intensifying efforts to free the remaining victims.
He dismissed reports that the 10 rescued corps members were among the 11 persons freed during a joint security operation last week, clarifying that those earlier rescued were other travellers caught up in the same kidnapping incident.
The commissioner added that several suspects have been arrested in connection with the attack.
Watch the video below:
Suspected terrorists killed four people, abducted four others and injured several more in an attack on Gorau town in Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State on Wednesday night.
The attackers invaded the community around 9pm and shot 11 residents, according to the village head, Alhaji Aliyu Magaji Na-Batsami. Seven of those shot survived and were rushed to hospital for treatment, while four died instantly.
The assault came barely six days after a boat accident claimed 65 lives in the same community. Na-Batsami said the terrorists specifically targeted families of the boat mishap victims over the N1 million relief money donated by the Sokoto State Government to each bereaved family. He said the bandits went from house to house searching for the cash.
Bashir Usman Gorau, the member representing Gada/Goronyo Federal Constituency, confirmed the incident and offered condolences to the affected families.
Efforts to reach the Police Public Relations Officer of the Sokoto State Police Command, DSP Ahmad Rufai, were unsuccessful as calls were not returned at the time of filing this report.
At least 24 bandits were killed on Tuesday after Nigerian Army soldiers, Department of State Services (DSS) operatives and members of the Katsina Community Watch Corps foiled a planned mass abduction in Gidan Bawa village, Kandarawa Ward, Bakori Local Government Area of Katsina State.
According to a security source, the operation was launched following sustained intelligence that about 40 gunmen loyal to notorious bandit kingpin Isiya Kwashen Garwa planned to invade the community and abduct residents, particularly women and children. The plot was reportedly intended to mirror the recent mass abduction of residents in Woro community, Kwara State, in a bid to embarrass the government.
Acting on the tip-off, DSS operatives mobilised the Community Watch Corps and the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) from Guga camp. The joint team ambushed the bandits as they moved to carry out the attack.
The source said the operatives neutralised 24 of the gunmen and rescued villagers who had already been abducted. Nineteen stolen cattle were also recovered during the raid.
Efforts are ongoing to track down the remaining bandits who fled the scene.
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