Owo Church attackers sentenced to death by hanging

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on Wednesday sentenced four out of the five terrorists that attacked the St Francis Catholic Church, Owo in Ondo to death. Justice Emeka Nwite, who pronounced the four terrorists guilty in the entire 9 count charges, ordered that they should be hanged until they die. The four convicts are: Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (25 years), Al Qasim Idris (20 years), Jamiu Abdulmalik (26 years) and Abdulhaleem Idris (25 years). The fifth suspect, who was among those arrested and prosecuted, Momoh Otuho Abubakar (47 years), was discharged and acquitted in all the charges Daily Trust reports that no fewer than 41 members of the church were killed while 69 worshippers were injured in the attack as the bandits threw some explosives to the altar scattering the worshippers. The Department of State Services (DSS) later arrested Idris Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris, and Momoh Abubakar and charged them to court on a nine-count charge bordering on terrorism. The DSS had called 11 witnesses to establish the allegations against the defendants in the trial that began on August 1, 2025. The trial court had admitted the confessional statements of the defendants following the conclusion of the trial-within-trial conducted to establish that the witnesses’ statements were voluntarily given. Last week, Justice Nwite, after lawyers to the prosecution and the defence adopted their final written addresses and presented their arguments for and against the case, reserved the judgment.