By Camillus Eboh
ABUJA, June 3 (Reuters) - A Nigerian court has sentenced four men to death by hanging after convicting them over a 2022 attack on a Catholic church in Owo, in southwestern Ondo state, that killed dozens, a judge said on Wednesday.
The ruling will be seen as a test of Nigeria’s ability to successfully prosecute terrorism cases, as the country grapples with insurgencies and widespread insecurity.
Justice Emeka Nwite handed down the sentences after finding the defendants guilty on a nine-count charge including hostage-taking, kidnapping, terrorism financing and the detonation of explosives causing death and injury.
The four men – Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik and Abdulhaleem Idris – were convicted on multiple counts. A fifth defendant was acquitted due to insufficient evidence, court proceedings showed.
The men had pleaded not guilty at the start of the trial.
The assault was one of the deadliest attacks on a place of worship in Nigeria.
In addition to the death sentences, the four were also given symbolic sentences of life imprisonment for belonging to a terrorist organisation and 20 years each for conspiracy.
According to court filings, the men allegedly joined the East African militant group al Shabaab in 2021 and plotted attacks at other locations, including a public school in central Nigeria and an area near a mosque about 30 km (19 miles) from Owo.
Al Shabaab did not claim responsibility for the June 2022 church attack, and its operational presence in Nigeria remains unverified.
Authorities initially blamed Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), which alongside Boko Haram has waged a prolonged insurgency in Nigeria’s northeast, though neither group claimed responsibility for the assault.
(Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
