A couple yesterday recounted to a Federal High Court in Abuja the terror attack on St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, which occurred on June 5, 2022.
The pair shared their harrowing experiences while testifying in the ongoing trial of five men accused of involvement in the attack.
The Department of State Services (DSS) is prosecuting Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (25), Al Qasim Idris (20), Jamiu Abdulmalik (26), Abdulhaleem Idris (25), and Momoh Otuho Abubakar (47) over the violent incident.
The husband, identified as “SSE,” described walking over the bodies of numerous young worshippers in the church hall while desperately trying to locate his missing son.
His wife, referred to as “SSD,” detailed how a dynamite thrown into the church hall shattered her legs and destroyed her left eye.
During cross-examination by the prosecuting counsel, Ayodeji Adedipe (SAN), SSE, appearing as the fifth prosecution witness (PW5), said he was at the church with his mother, his wife, and their three children, including two daughters and a son.
The witness said: “The congregation gathered in the church, in which my family and I were not left out. After the mass, the priest gave the final blessing for everyone to go. It was then we heard the first gunshot outside the church.
“So, we thought it was a banger (firecracker) that people throw to commemorate the event of Pentecost. But later, the sound continued, sounding closer to the church. Then the MOD (Man of Discipline), who happened to be among the church’s wardens, shouted that everyone should lie down.
“He (MOD) ran to the entrance door and closed it. By then, the gunmen were already around the church premises, but could not enter through the entrance door.
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“They were then shooting through the windows, and those who wanted to escape were shot at outside the church. When the MOD discovered that he could no longer withstand it, he left the entrance door and the assailants gained entry into the church.
“They were first shooting those who wanted to run out of the church. But noticing that those who wanted to move out through the small door at the same time were many, an explosive device was thrown where people gathered behind the exit door, where I lay down.”
“He (MOD) ran to the entrance door and closed it. By then, the gunmen were already around the church premises, but could not enter through the entrance door.
“They were then shooting through the windows, and those who wanted to escape were shot at outside the church. When the MOD discovered that he could no longer withstand it, he left the entrance door and the assailants gained entry into the church.
“They were first shooting those who wanted to run out of the church. But noticing that those who wanted to move out through the small door at the same time were many, an explosive device was thrown where people gathered behind the exit door, where I lay down.”
“The device started exploding, one after the other. The entire church was full of dust and smoke. For several minutes, nobody talked. When the explosives ceased, we thought they had gone.
“A woman stood up to see, and she was shot. Then, I buried myself back under the church’s pew.
“After a while, without anyone moving, I tried to raise up my head a bit. I saw one of the assailants hanging his gun on his shoulder, jogging to the altar, the sanctuary, and throwing another dynamite there and running faster than before out of the place.
“For almost two to three minutes, the device was exploding, destroying human beings and church structures. For some minutes, the church remained silent until the time those outside ran inside, shouting that they (the attackers) had gone.
“It was then I stood up, moved outside, and even climbed over some bodies on the floor, looking for my family members. Outside, I saw my mother and my two daughters, remaining my wife and my son. I went back to the church.
“My lord, you can imagine the feeling when I had to search and turn the bodies of young people on the floor to see if any of them was my son,” the witness said.
He added that while he was searching for his son, he saw a woman on the floor whose lower part had been shattered.
The witness said he could only sympathise with her, but later found out that the woman was his wife.
He said: “I went out of the church. By the side of my car, a woman who had been shot laid there with her child. Some of the bullets that penetrated the woman also damaged my car.
“Thereafter, somebody called me that my wife was somewhere outside the church. I went there to see her. I discovered that she was the woman I had passed by in the church and did not recognise, but was pitying who turned out to be my wife,” he said.
The witness said his wife was later taken to the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Owo by another member of the church.
According to him, on getting to the hospital, he handed his wife over to a doctor, who was also a member of their church.
He added: “At the hospital, I signed for my wife to be amputated, and her two legs were amputated. We discovered later that one of the eyes was ruptured. As of today, she lives with no legs and one eye.”
The witness recalled that after the attack, the Ondo State government had promised to provide his wife with prosthetic legs. However, the vendor was unable to supply functional prostheses before the administration of the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu left office. He added that he had contacted the current Ondo State Commissioner of Health about the issue, but no assistance was provided.
During cross-examination by defence lawyer Abdullahi Mohammad, the witness said the attackers used both guns and dynamite inside the church.
Recounting his position during the attack, he said he hid under a church pew. From there, he could see the assailants but could not make out their faces clearly. When asked about the number of attackers, he stated that he saw three inside the church and one outside, firing through a window.
Earlier, SSD, testifying as the fourth prosecution witness (PW4), gave an account consistent with SSE’s. She described herself as a nurse with the Ondo State Hospital Management Board and detailed her own harrowing experience during the attack.
She said: “I ran to the altar to lie down. I met a lot of people there. A lot of people came after me and laid on top of me. I was there praying in my heart that God should save my family because I did not know the direction they ran to.
“I also told God to have mercy on me and that if that was going to be my last day on earth, He should forgive me all my sins.
“Then, the gunshots continued sporadically. I heard a loud sound, which I believed to be the sound. I can’t remember what followed until everywhere became calm and I realised that I was still alive.
“Then, I touched my eyes: everywhere was bloody. I touched my legs; I could not feel anything, only what felt like rags and the dangling, shattered part of my legs. I could not talk. My voice was gone, and I could not hear well. I was hearing faintly.
“I was trying to call for help, but my voice was not coming out. So, I started waving my hands and saying ‘ambulance, hospital’.
“I was taken to the hospital with other victims and dead church members. When I was receiving treatment in the hospital, I lost my left eye, and now I use a prosthesis.
“If the court permits, I will remove it for the court to see. I also lost my two legs. The two legs were amputated above the knees.
“I spent about five months plus in the hospital before I was discharged. Since then, I have been in a wheelchair,” the witness said.
At that point, the prosecuting lawyer, Ayodeji Adedipe (SAN), requested that the witness be wheeled to the center of the courtroom so the judge could see her amputated legs and damaged eye. Justice Emeka Nwite granted the application.
The witness was moved to the middle of the courtroom, where she demonstrated the injuries to the judge.
During cross-examination by defence counsel Abdullahi Mohammed, she said she could not recall the number of people who were with her at the church altar during the attack. She added that she was unable to count those she encountered at the altar while trying to hide.
The witness could not state with certainty what caused the damage to her eye but suggested it may have been from the dynamite. She said the roof at the altar was destroyed by the explosion.
When asked how she knew that 41 people died in the attack, she explained that she only learned the number after regaining consciousness and asking about what had happened. She said she later confirmed the figure from the programme printed for the mass burial of the victims.
She also stated that she did not know how many attackers were involved in the assault on the church.
Justice Nwite adjourned the case to February 10 and 11 for further hearing.
