A Nigerian federal court has sentenced four men to death for their roles in a 2022 attack on a Catholic church in southwestern Nigeria that killed 41 worshipers and injured more than 100 others during a Pentecost Sunday service.
Judge Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja convicted four defendants on multiple terrorism-related charges, including homicide, conspiracy to commit terrorism, membership in a terrorist organization, kidnapping, hostage-taking, terrorism financing and the use of explosives that resulted in deaths and injuries.
The court found that prosecutors had proven their case beyond a reasonable doubt and said the evidence presented during the trial had not been successfully challenged by the defense.
Those convicted were identified as Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, 25; Al Qasim Idris, 20; Jamiu Abdulmalik, 26; and Abdulhaleem Idris, 25. In addition to the death sentences, each was sentenced to 20 years in prison for membership in a terrorist organization.
A fifth defendant, Momoh Otuho Abubakar, 47, was acquitted after the court determined there was insufficient evidence linking him to the attack.
Prosecutors had alleged that Abubakar provided financial support to the attackers by distributing funds received from a suspect who remains at large. During testimony, Abubakar denied the allegations and said the money in question came from legitimate farming and cooperative business activities.
The attack occurred on June 5, 2022, when gunmen entered St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, a town in Ondo State, during a Pentecost Sunday Mass. According to prosecutors, the attackers opened fire on worshipers and detonated explosive devices inside the church.
Authorities said 41 people were killed, including several children, while more than 100 others suffered injuries.
During the trial, witnesses provided graphic accounts of the violence. One survivor testified that an explosion severed both of her legs below the knee and left her blind in one eye. Another witness said he was able to identify two of the defendants as participants in the attack.
The church’s priest survived the assault.
Court records indicated that the convicted men admitted participating in the attack and said they were acting under the direction of a leader who remains at large. According to testimony presented during the trial, the men said they were told the church had committed blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad.
Authorities identified the defendants as members of Al-Shabaab, an extremist group linked to Al-Qaeda, which they allegedly joined in 2021. Neither Al-Shabaab nor the Islamic State West Africa Province formally claimed responsibility for the attack.
Defense attorneys said they plan to appeal the convictions and sentences. During the proceedings, the defendants alleged they were subjected to torture while in custody, including beatings and electric shocks, per the Western Journal.
Executions are rare in Nigeria despite the country maintaining the death penalty. According to rights organizations, more than 3,000 inmates were on death row as of 2023.
Bishop Jude Arogundade of Owo welcomed the verdict but said it could not undo the loss suffered by victims’ families.
“People will say at least some level of justice was done,” the bishop said. “But it does not bring back those who were brutally murdered.”
