By Kofoworola Fakeye, JKNewsMedia Reporter
CONVICTION HAS come for four persons charged over the June 5, 2022, attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, with the Federal High Court in Abuja finding them guilty on all nine counts preferred against them by the Federal Government (FG).
JKNewsMedia.com reports that Justice Emeka Nwite, who delivered judgment on Wednesday, held that the prosecution proved its case against Idris Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik and Abdulhaleem Idris beyond reasonable doubt.
Consequently, the court sentenced the four defendants to death by hanging.
Also, the five suspects, including Momoh Otuho Abubakar, were arraigned on August 11, 2022, on a nine-count terrorism charge.
Nwite discharged Abubakar, holding that there was no evidence linking him to the attack.
The judge held that evidence before the court established that the four convicted defendants belonged to and actively participated in the activities of the terrorist group, including the church attack.
The federal government alleged that the defendants joined the Al Shabaab terrorist group in 2021 and operated a cell in Kogi State.
The prosecution told the court that the defendants held meetings in Kogi and Ondo states in 2022 where they planned the attack.
They were accused of detonating improvised explosive devices and carrying out the assault with AK 47 rifles, resulting in the deaths of over 40 people and injuries to more than 100 others.
The government said the attack was carried out to further the group’s religious ideology, offences punishable under the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act, 2022.
To establish its case, the prosecution called 11 witnesses and tendered 23 exhibits.
Among the exhibits admitted in evidence were confessional statements and a digital forensic examination report tendered alongside a Techno phone alleged to contain communications exchanged by the defendants before and after the attack.
JKNewsMedia.com also reports that a Catholic priest who testified as the first prosecution witness told the court that the Pentecost Sunday service was about to end when gunshots suddenly rang out, causing panic among worshippers.
He said he heard explosions and continuous gunfire and described the scene as chaotic and terrifying.
The priest testified that many worshippers were killed and injured during the attack.
Another prosecution witness identified the second and fourth defendants as part of those who attacked worshippers.
A church member and student who testified before the court said explosives damaged her left leg, leading to four surgeries and skin grafting. She also told the court that her two-year-old cousin died from a gunshot wound to the head.
Another fourth witness also testified that she lost both legs above the knees and her left eye during the attack.
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