By Our Correspondent <\/p>\n
A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced four men to death by hanging for their roles in the June 5, 2022 terrorist attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, which left 41 worshippers dead and more than 100 others injured.<\/p>\n
Justice Emeka Nwite delivered the judgment on Wednesday, holding that the prosecution had successfully established the guilt of the defendants beyond reasonable doubt and proved their membership of a proscribed terrorist organisation linked to the deadly attack.<\/p>\n
The convicted men are Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, 25; Al Qasim Idris, 20; Jamiu Abdulmalik, 26; and Abdulhaleem Idris, 25.<\/p>\n
The court found them guilty on all five counts bordering on terrorism, conspiracy, membership of a terrorist group and murder.<\/p>\n
In his judgment, Justice Nwite said the evidence presented before the court by the prosecution and even aspects of the defence testimony made it clear that the defendants were members of the terrorist group Al-Shabaab.<\/p>\n
The judge noted that the prosecution’s case remained credible throughout the trial and was not effectively challenged by the defendants.<\/p>\n
According to the court, evidence led by the Department of State Services (DSS) established that the four convicts played central roles in planning and executing the attack that shocked the nation and drew widespread international condemnation.<\/p>\n
A key aspect of the ruling was the court’s finding on count three of the charge, where Justice Nwite held that the defendants were the masterminds of the attack.<\/p>\n
The judge relied on evidence relating to a meeting allegedly held on May 30, 2022, six days before the attack, during which the assault on the church was planned.<\/p>\n
He held that the prosecution had sufficiently linked the four men to the meeting and the subsequent execution of the attack, describing the evidence against them as compelling.<\/p>\n
However, the court discharged and acquitted the fifth defendant, 47-year-old Momoh Otuho Abubakar.<\/p>\n
Justice Nwite ruled that the prosecution failed to prove the allegation of terrorism financing brought against him under count six of the charge.<\/p>\n
The judge consequently freed Abubakar, holding that there was insufficient evidence to sustain a conviction against him.<\/p>\n
The June 5, 2022 attack on St. Francis Catholic Church remains one of the deadliest attacks on a place of worship in Nigeria’s recent history.<\/p>\n
Gunmen invaded the church during a Pentecost Sunday service, opening fire on worshippers and detonating explosive devices as congregants gathered for Mass.<\/p>\n
The assault claimed the lives of at least 41 people, including women and children, while more than 100 others sustained varying degrees of injuries.<\/p>\n
The massacre sparked national outrage and prompted a massive security operation that eventually led to the arrest and prosecution of suspects linked to the attack.<\/p>\n
With Wednesday’s judgment, the four convicted terrorists are to face the death penalty for their involvement in the massacre, marking a significant milestone in the government’s efforts to secure justice for the victims and their families.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Our Correspondent A Federal High Court in Abuja has sentenced four men to death by hanging for their roles in the June 5, 2022 terrorist attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, which left 41 worshippers dead and more than 100 others injured. Justice Emeka Nwite delivered the judgment on Wednesday, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13470,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-law-crime"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14264"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14265,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14264\/revisions\/14265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}