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 Nigerian Army has recorded fresh operational successes against terrorists and kidnappers in Niger State, rescuing 16 abducted persons and recovering weapons, ammunition and logistics items.
Troops of 18 Brigade conducted the operation on November 5 following intelligence on the movement of suspected terrorists from Mashegu towards Rijiyan Nagwamatse in Kontagora Local Government Area. During an ambush, the troops engaged the criminals, neutralising an unconfirmed number and freeing the 16 victims.
Items recovered include two AK-47 rifles, seven magazines, three RPG bombs, 33 motorcycles, assorted ammunition and more than four million naira in cash.
In a separate operation, troops intercepted terrorists moving from Kebbi State into Niger State, forcing them to retreat into the forest.
The rescued victims received first aid and were handed over to the relevant authorities for reunification with their families. The Commander of 18 Brigade commended the troops for their gallantry and urged them to sustain the offensive against criminal elements.
The Army said the successes highlight its growing operational capacity and commitment to restoring security across affected communities.
The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested Faisal Abdulrasheed Maina, the fugitive son of former Pension Reform Task Team chairman Abdulrasheed Maina, and handed him over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Security sources said Faisal, who had been on the run since 2020, was trailed and apprehended by DSS operatives in the Karsana area of Abuja after intelligence indicated he had secretly returned to the country.
Faisal was earlier prosecuted by the EFCC on a three-count charge of money laundering and conspiracy. He jumped bail and fled the country. His trial continued in his absence, and in 2021 Justice Okon Abang convicted and sentenced him to 14 years’ imprisonment.
The court ordered that he be arrested wherever found in Nigeria and remanded in a correctional centre to serve his sentence. It also directed that, if located abroad, the Federal Government should take lawful steps to secure his extradition.
A source said the handover to the EFCC would facilitate enforcement of the court’s judgment and ensure Faisal serves his prison term.
Three others escape with gunshot injuries…..
Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS), the military and the police have arrested five suspected members of a criminal gang allegedly responsible for the abduction of 20 National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members in Imo State.
The suspects were apprehended during a series of intelligence-led operations carried out between October 10 and 14 in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and Aba South Local Government Area of Abia State. Three other suspects escaped during the raids with varying degrees of gunshot injuries.
The 20 corps members were abducted by armed men along the Owerri–Onitsha Expressway in Imo State on October 1, 2026 — Nigeria’s 66th Independence Day — while travelling to their orientation camps in Abia and Akwa Ibom states. They were rescued on October 7 during a joint security operation at Amakohia Ubi Village.
Security sources described the latest arrests as a major breakthrough in the effort to dismantle the network behind the abduction and bring the perpetrators to justice.
“This is a huge sigh of relief. Security agencies have been on a sustained manhunt for the abductors, and we are elated that they have been captured. We strongly believe they will be charged to court by the DSS and the corps members will get justice,” a security source said.
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