Court Hands Death Sentence To Four Convicts in Deadly Owo Church Attack

The judgment was delivered on Wednesday after the court found the defendants guilty in a terrorism case filed by the Department of State Services (DSS).

Delivering ruling in charge number FHC/ABJ/CR/301/2025, Justice Nwite said the prosecution had successfully proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

The attack occurred four years ago when armed gunmen stormed the church during a Pentecost Sunday service, opened fire on worshippers, and carried out the assault using explosives and firearms.

The court held that the convicts were key members of an Al-Shabaab terrorist cell operating in Kogi State. It found that they joined the group in 2021, attended planning meetings in Kogi and Ondo States on May 30 and June 4, 2022, and later carried out the attack on June 5, during which worshippers were held hostage and attacked with improvised explosive devices and AK-47 rifles in line with their ideological beliefs.

The four convicts were part of five defendants initially charged with nine counts relating to terrorism and other offences linked to the attack.

Those sentenced to death are:

• Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (25)
• Al Qasim Idris (20)
• Jamiu Abdulmalik (26)
• Abdulhaleem Idris (25)

The assault left more than 40 worshippers dead and over 100 others injured.

The fifth defendant, Momoh Otuho Abubakar (47), was discharged and acquitted.

All five suspects were arrested in August 2022 in different locations across Kogi and Ondo States after being tracked through geospatial network filtering technology that helped isolate phone activity linked to the attack area.

The Owo church massacre remains one of the deadliest attacks on a place of worship in recent years and sparked widespread condemnation both within Nigeria and internationally.