Four Nigerian men have been sentenced to death by a court after being found guilty of carrying out the Pentecost massacre, an attack on St. Francis Xavier Parish in the city of Owo, Nigeria, on June 5, 2022, that left at least 40 people dead.
On that day, the men entered the church during Pentecost Sunday Mass, opening fire on Catholic worshippers and detonating explosive devices. Several children were among the fatalities, and another 100 people were injured.
The parish remained closed for months for repairs and for survivors to receive treatment. It reopened its doors in April 2023.
Church reaction to the verdict
As the fifth anniversary of the tragedy was observed on Friday, the local bishop, Jude Arogundade, expressed his sorrow over the pain left in the wake of the massacre and reacted to the court ruling, stating that "people will say at least justice was done, some level of justice was done."
"But at the same time, it doesn't bring back the lives of 41 people that were brutally murdered on that day. So my reaction is, well, we have a law in this country. The law may have taken its course, but we are left to continue to nurse the wounds of those who are scarred by that attack," he told the Nigerian newspaper The Guardian.
"But after that, the law of the land still take its course. And that, we don't have anything to say apart from we are a country, and the country is guided by its constitutions and laws, and it has to be upheld," the bishop noted.
In 2018, Pope Francis authorized a modification to No. 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding the death penalty, declaring the application of this punishment to be "inadmissible" in any case and calling for its abolition worldwide.
Furthermore, Pope Leo reaffirmed this teaching in April, noting that "only when a society safeguards the sanctity of human life can it flourish and prosper."
Further details on the verdict
Those convicted are Idris Abdul Malik Omeiza, 25; Al Qasim Idris, 20; Jamiu Abdul Malik, 26; and Abdul Haleem Idris, 25. Additionally, Momoh Otuho Abubakar, the fifth defendant, was acquitted due to a lack of evidence against him.
According to the Spanish news agency EFE, these individuals were also sentenced to death for their membership in the terrorist group Al-Shabaab and on charges including conspiracy to commit a terrorist act, kidnapping, hostage-taking, and homicide.
Judge Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja, the country's capital, stated that "the prosecution has successfully proven, beyond reasonable doubt, the nine charges against the first, second, third, and fourth defendants."
In practice, executions are rare in Nigeria because they require the approval of state governors, many of whom prefer to withhold it. The last execution took place in 2016. By 2023, the number of prisoners on death row in the country exceeded 3,000.
Lucky Aiyedatiwa, the governor of Ondo state where the town of Owo is located, stated that "the court has done the right thing" and described the ruling as "a victory for our state and justice for the victims and their families."
The defense lawyer for the convicted men stated that they would appeal the court's verdict. Throughout the trial as reported by the BBC, the men claimed to have been subjected to mistreatment by the authorities.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.
