ABUJA, NIGERIA – Nigeria’s Federal High Court sitting in the capital sentenced four members of the Al-Shabaab terrorist group to death by hanging on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, for their involvement in a 2022 church attack that left over 40 worshippers dead.
Okay News reports that trial judge Justice Emeka Nwite convicted Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, 25; Al Qasim Idris, 20; Jamiu Abdulmalik, 26; and Abdulhaleem Idris, 25, on a nine-count terrorism charge filed by Nigeria’s Department of State Services on behalf of the Federal Government.
The court discharged and acquitted a fifth defendant, Momoh Otuho Abubakar, 47, citing insufficient evidence linking him to the assault on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, on June 5, 2022.
The prosecution presented 11 witnesses and 23 exhibits to establish that the convicts operated a terrorist cell in Kogi State and used improvised explosive devices and AK-47 rifles during a Pentecost service.
Exhibits admitted during the trial included a technophone device containing communications exchanged before and after the attack, digital forensic examination reports, and testimony from a Catholic priest who survived the detonation of at least 3 explosive devices inside the building.
