Nigeria convicts four over 2022 church massacre

A Nigerian judge on Wednesday found four men guilty in a high-profile terrorism trial over a 2022 church massacre, while acquitting the fifth.

The shooting and bombing at St Francis Xavier Catholic church in the town of Owo, in southwestern Ondo state, left more than 40 dead and 100 wounded, according to prosecutors.

Though much of north and central Nigeria suffers from jihadists and armed gangs, the massacre, during Pentecost celebrations, was a rare, shocking attack in the calmer southwest.

Justice Emeka Nwite ruled at the Federal High Court in Abuja that Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik and Abdulhaleem Idris were guilty of all nine charges brought under the country’s 2022 Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, ranging from joining a terrorist group to planning and carrying out the killings.

They were each handed one life term, two 20-year prison terms and six death sentences — though Nigeria in practice does not carry out executions.

The fifth defendant, Momoh Otuho Abubakar, was acquitted on all counts, including a terror financing charge.

“Justice has been served, justice has been done to the deceased who were murdered in cold blood,” prosecutor Ayodeji Adedipe told journalists.

Defence lawyer Abdullahi Muhammad promised to appeal.

– Defendants alleged torture –

Despite Wednesday’s conviction, many questions remain around the attack, which no armed group claimed at the time.

Four years later, others wanted in the case remain at large, according to the charging documents.

Ahead of the trial, the government had alleged that the Somali jihadist group Al Shabaab was linked to the attack.

But security forces later testified that the attackers in fact belonged to the domestic jihadist group Islamic State West Africa Province, as part of a cell called Al Shabaab, which means “the youth” in Arabic.

The defendants testified they were tortured during their interrogations.

They were also held in secret for years without legal access before the trial commenced in 2025, their lawyer said.

The ruling comes as increased attention has been turned on western Nigeria, where jihadists — including groups from the Sahel — have made inroads, even as the northeast remains the epicentre of the country’s 17-year-long insurgency.

Last month, at least 46 students were kidnapped in an attack on three schools in southwestern Oyo state.

The military blamed Boko Haram jihadists.