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The Federal High Court in Abuja handed down death sentences by hanging to four Al-Shabaab terrorists on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. The individuals were convicted for their roles in the June 5, 2022, massacre at St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State. The deadly assault resulted in more than 40 fatalities and left upwards of 100 worshippers injured.
The presiding judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, convicted four men on nine counts of terrorism following charges filed by the Department of State Services (DSS) on behalf of the Federal Government.
The convicted individuals are Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (25), Al Qasim Idris (20), Jamiu Abdulmalik (26), and Abdulhaleem Idris (25).
The Court freed the 47-year-old fifth defendant, Momoh Otuho Abubakar, citing a lack of solid evidence directly connecting him to the 2022 Owo church massacre.
Justice Nwite ruled that the prosecution proved the four convicts’ guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, stating that the evidence clearly showed they were active members of the terrorist group behind the deadly church attack.
The court found that the convicts were principal members of an Al-Shabaab terrorist cell operating in Kogi State and that they took part in the assault on the church during a Pentecost service.
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 the 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.
