State Security Service (SSS) lawyer, Ayodeji Adedipe, SAN, has said that the judgement of the court on the four convicts over their involvement in the Owo church attack is a warning to terrorists who engage in heinous crimes.

Mr Adedipe stated this during an interview with journalists shortly after a judgement was delivered by Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday.

Mr Nwite had sentenced four of the five defendants prosecuted by the SSS to death by hanging following the establishment of their participation in the June 5, 2022, attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.

The senior lawyer, who described the judgement as “sound,” said it reflected the facts and the law.

“The judge did a very thorough job. The judgment had lasted for over three hours.

“He examined and evaluated all the pieces of evidence adduced and correctly applied the law,” he said.

According to him, they were not surprised because the investigation that led to the prosecution of the case was not only forensic, it was thorough.

“The SSS did a very thorough and painstaking investigation and it was on this basis that the trial was anchored.

“Therefore, the evidence adduced by the prosecution was ironclad.

“So we are not surprised the judgment came out the way it did.

“Now, 1st to 4th defendants had been convicted for an act of terrorism as a result of their participation in the attack where over 40 worshippers who merely went to worship God were killed in cold blood.

“Over 100 others were also injured in that attack.

“So we are happy because justice has been served; justice has been done to the deceased who were murdered in cold blood.

“Justice has been done to their family members; justice has been done to the Owo community and justice has been done to society at large.

“So, we are very happy,” he said.

Mr Adedipe described the judgement as “another statement; a bold statement by the federal government that for some of them that are still carrying on acts of terrorism and other heinous crimes, they can only run, they cannot hide.”

According to him, the long hand of the law will catch up with them.

“And if you live by the sword, you will die by the sword.

“So this is a statement by the Federal Government, which provided the enabling environment and the facilities for the SSS to do their job.

“We are, indeed, very happy about this judgment, particularly as the maximum sentence has been imposed on the 1st to 4th defendants, having been convicted of acts of terrorism and sentenced to death by hanging,” he said.

On what the SSS would do about the 5th defendant who was discharged and acquitted by the court, he said: “We are going to meet with our clients and review the judgment vis-a-vis the evidence.

“Then we will determine the next step to take.”

In his response, counsel to the defendants, Abdullahi Muhammed, faulted the judgement.

He told the media that they would appeal the judgement.

The four convicts are Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, 25; Al Qasim Idris, 20; Jamiu Abdulmalik, 26; and Abdulhaleem Idris, 25, while Momoh Otuho Abubakar, 47, was freed. 

(NAN)