Owo Church Attack: ‘I Waded Through Corpses In Search Of My Missing Son’ - DSS Witness Tells Court

A couple appeared before the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday to recount the June 5, 2022, attack on St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, detailing how the incident unfolded.

The couple spoke while testifying in the ongoing trial of five men accused of being behind the attack.

The Department of State Services (DSS) is prosecuting Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (25 years), Al Qasim Idris 20 years), Jamiu Abdulmalik (26 years), Abdulhaleem Idris (25 years), and Momoh Otuho Abubakar (47 years) involved in the attack.

The husband, who was identified as ‘SSE,’ said after the incident that he was forced to wade through corpses of young people in the church hall while trying to locate his son, who was missing.

The wife, who was identified as ‘SSD,’ gave details of how a dynamite thrown into the church hall shattered her legs and destroyed her left eye.

Led in evidence by prosecuting lawyer, Ayodeji Adedipe (SAN), SSE, who testified as the fifth prosecution witness (PW5), said he was in the church on that day with his mother, his wife, and three children (two girls and a boy).

The witness said, “The congregation gathered in the church, in which my family was not left out. After the mass, the priest now gave the final blessing for everyone to go. It was then that we heard the first gunshot outside the church.

“So, we thought it was a banger that people throw to commemorate the event of Pentecost. But later, the sound continued, approaching the church. Then the MOD (Men of Discipline), who happened to be one of 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’s premises, but could not enter through the entrance door.

“They were then shooting through the windows, and those who wanted to escape, they shot them outside. When the MOD discovered that he could no longer withstand it, he left the entrance door, and the assailants gained entrance 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 of the small door at the same time were many, an explosive device was thrown at the place where people gathered behind the exit door, where I lay down.

“And, the device started exploding sporadically, one after the other. The whole church was full of dust and smoke. For long, no human being talked. When the device ceased, we thought they had gone.

“A woman stood up to see, and she was shot. And then, I buried myself back under the church pew.

“After a while, without anyone moving, I tried to raise 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 scene. 

“For almost two to three minutes, the device was exploding, destroying both human beings and church structures. For some minutes, the church remained silent until the time outsiders ran inside, shouting that they (the attackers) had gone.

“It was then that I stood up, moved outside, and even climbed over some corpses on the floor, looking for my family members. Outside, I saw my mother and my two daughters, my wife and my son. I went back to the church.

“My lord, you can imagine the feeling when I had to be searching and turning the corpses of young people on the floor to see if any of them was my son,” the witness said.

He added that while still searching for his son, he saw a woman on the floor whose lower part had been shattered and only sympathised with her, only to later find out that the woman was his wife.

The witness further said, “I went out of the church, by the side of my car, and a woman was shot there with her child. And, some of the bullets that penetrated the woman’s car also damaged my car.

“Thereafter, somebody called me to say that my wife is somewhere outside the church. I went there to see her. I discovered that it was the woman that I passed by in the church, which I did not recognise, but was pitying that turned out to be my wife,” he said.

The witness said his wife was later taken to the Federal Medical Centre in Owo by another member of the church. He added that on getting to the hospital, he handed his wife over to a doctor, who happened to be a member of their church.

He added, “At the hospital, I signed for my wife to be amputated, and her two legs were amputated. And we discovered later that one of the eyes was ruptured. As of today, she lives with no legs and one eye.”

The witness said that after the incident, the Ondo State government promised to give his wife prostheses for her legs, but that the vendor was unable to provide useful prostheses until the then administration of the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu left office. 

He said he had called the current Commissioner of Health in Ondo State on the issue, but he failed to do anything.

Under cross-examination by defence lawyer, Abdullahi Mohammad, the witness said the attackers used both guns and dynamites inside the church.

On where he was when the assailants entered the church, the witness said he was in the church and hiding under the pew. He said he could see the attackers where he was, but could not see their faces clearly.

On how many attackers there were, the witness said he saw three inside the church and one outside, who was shooting through the window.

Testifying earlier as the fourth prosecution witness (PW4), SSD, who said she is a nurse with the Ondo State Hospital Management Board, gave similar information as SSE in relation to the attack.

She said, “I ran to the altar to lie down, where I met a lot of people already. And a lot of people came after me and lay on top of me. I was there praying in my heart that God would 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 is 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 a dynamite sound. Then, I didn’t know what followed until everything became calm and I realised that I was still alive.

“Then, I touched my eyes; everywhere was bloody. I touched my leg, and I could not feel anything, only what felt like rags and the dangling, shattered part of my leg. Then, I could not talk, my voice was gone, and I could not hear well. I was hearing faintly.

“And, I was trying to call for help, but my voice was not coming out. So, then I started waving my hands and saying ambulance, hospital.

“I was taken to the hospital along with other victims and de@d bodies. 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, Adedipe applied to the court that the witness, who was on wheelchair, be wheeled out to the middle of the courtroom for the court to see the amputated legs and the damaged eye, an application Justice Emeka Nwite granted.

The witness was then moved to the middle of the courtroom, where she showed the judge the damaged eye and legs.

Under cross-examination by Mohammad, the witness said she could not count the number of people with whom she was at the church altar during the attack.
Said she could not count the number of those she met at the altar where she ran to hide.

On what could have affected her left eye, the witness said she could not say precisely, but thought it may be the dynamite, because the roof at the altar was destroyed by the blast from the dynamite.

On how she knew that 41 people d!ed in the attack, the witness said she did not know immediately, but learnt about it when she came to life and started asking about what happened.

The witness said she also learnt about the number of casualties from the programme that was printed when the de@d were being given mass burial.

SSD said she did not know the number of those who came to attack the church.

Justice Nwite has adjourned further hearing in the case till February 10 and 11.