Owo church attack: Court sentences 4  terrorists to death by hanging

*Acquits one for lack of evidence

*Justice has been served — Aiyedatiwa

By Dayo Johnson & Ikechukwu Nnochiri

ABUJA — THE Federal High Court in Abuja, yesterday, convicted and sentenced four members of the Al-Shabaab terrorist group to death by hanging for their roles in the June 5, 2022, attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.

Those found guilty on a nine-count terrorism charge filed by the Department of State Services, DSS, on behalf of the Federal Government were Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (25), Al Qasim Idris (20), Jamiu Abdulmalik (26), and Abdulhaleem Idris (25), while the 5th defendant, Momoh Otuho Abubakar (47), was discharged for want of evidence linking him to the attack.

Delivering judgment in the matter, Justice Emeka Nwite, who presided, said he was satisfied that the prosecution proved its case against the four convicts beyond a reasonable doubt.

He held that the evidence before the court established that they belonged to and actively participated in the activities of the terrorist group, which included the church attack.

The attack, carried out while the church celebrated Pentecost, resulted in the deaths of more than 40 people and serious injuries to over 100 others.

The court was told that the convicts, who were principal members of an Al-Shabaab terrorist cell operating in Kogi State, invaded the church and held worshippers hostage, during which they caused extensive destruction.

It was alleged that they used improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and AK-47 rifles to perpetrate the attack in furtherance of their religious ideology.

Among the items admitted in evidence were confessional statements and a Digital Forensic Examination Report, tendered alongside a Tecno phone alleged to contain communications exchanged by the convicts before and after the terror attack.

Meanwhile, the convicts, some of whom testified in their defence, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Their team of lawyers, led by Mr Abdullahi Mohammad, urged the court to discharge and acquit them on the grounds that the prosecution failed to prove the terrorism charge.

The 1st defendant, Omeiza, who testified in the Ebira language, identified himself as an auxiliary nurse and narrated how he was apprehended in Kogi State and later moved to Ondo State.

He told the court that he was arrested on August 1, 2022, after DSS operatives stormed his residence around 2 a.m.

While denying his involvement in the attack, Omeiza alleged that he was detained, chained, and repeatedly beaten until he fainted.

The court had declined to conduct a trial-within-a-trial after the defendants denied the confessional statements that were attributed to them.

They alleged that they were coerced into confessing to a crime they did not commit, insisting they were not the makers of the statements.

However, Justice Nwite overruled them and admitted the statements, stressing that the defence lawyers did not controvert the claim that their clients’ signatures and thumbprints were on the statements.

Reacting to the judgment, yesterday, counsel to the convicts, Mr Mohammad, said he would take the matter before the Court of Appeal.

Likewise, the Federal Government’s lawyer, Mr Ayodeji Adedipe, SAN, said the prosecution would also review the judgment to determine whether to appeal the discharge of the 5th defendant.

Justice is served — Aiyedatiwa

Meanwhile, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State and the Olowo of Owo, Oba Ajibade Ogunoye, yesterday, commended the judiciary and security agencies for securing the conviction and death sentence of four suspects in the June 5, 2022, terror attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo.

Governor Aiyedatiwa, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Ebenezer Adeniyan, described the verdict as a victory for justice, the rule of law, and for all victims of the attack.

He said: “This judgment sends a clear message that those who take innocent lives will face the full weight of the law, no matter how long it takes.

“While nothing can bring back the lives lost, this judgment provides a measure of closure and hope that justice is possible.”

Govs should sign death warrants —Olowo

Also reacting, the Olowo of Owo, Oba Ogunoye, said the conviction brought relief to the people of Owo and Nigerians.

The monarch said: “Well, I think we’re happy that finally those accused, four out of five, have been convicted and sentenced to death by hanging. I would say to a large extent, it is justice served.

“If cases like this had been properly handled in the past and accused persons were consistently convicted in respect of kidnapping and related offences, Nigeria would, to a large extent, have significantly reduced the wave of kidnapping and insecurity across the country.”

The Olowo also urged governors to live up to their constitutional duty by signing death warrants when necessary. 

He said: “Signing of death warrants is part of the responsibilities of the office of a governor.

“Any governor who refuses to sign such is already shirking his responsibility as demanded by law and the Constitution.

“My advice to governors is that they should take responsibility and ensure that justice is served finally, rather than keeping such convicts indefinitely, which also imposes a financial burden on the state. It amounts to double jeopardy.”

We’re still nursing wounds, says Bishop Arogundade  

On his part, the Catholic Bishop of Ondo Diocese, Rev. Jude Arogundade, yesterday, disclosed that the church continues to nurse the wounds of survivors and families of the 41 worshippers killed in the June 5, 2022, attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo.

Speaking in an interview ahead of the fourth anniversary of the attack, Arogundade said: “The scar has been with us since then. To this very day, we are either caring for the children of the deceased, or still nursing the wounds of the wounded.”

Reacting to the recent conviction, the bishop said: “People will say at least justice was done, some level of justice was done. But at the same time, it doesn’t bring back the lives of 41 people that were brutally murdered on that day.”

“The law may have taken its course, but we are left to continue to nurse the wounds of those who are scarred by that attack.

“I still believe that it was sponsored. It is not just out of the blue that people just came in there. People planned it and executed a plan. So how did they come to that idea?”

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