Owo Church Attack: Witness Identifies Two Defendants As ‘Attackers’

The second prosecution witness in the trial of five men accused of being behind the June 5, 2022, attack on a church in Owo, Ondo State, on Monday, identified two of the defendants as those who took part in the attack.

The witness, who said he is a member of the church and was present on that day, gave details of how the attack took place and the extent of damage recorded both to worshipers and the church building.

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) were involved in the attack at the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Owo.

Led in evidence by prosecuting lawyer, Adedayo Adedipe (SAN), the second prosecution witness (PW2), whose identity was protected, identified Qasim Idris (second defendant) and Abdulhaleem Idris (fourth defendant) as those he saw among the attackers.

The witness, who was labelled SSB, said the attack took place on Sunday when the church was about to round off the mass held in commemoration of the Feast of Pentecost.

He said, “We were having our normal mass in the church, just about the time the church was closing, we heard a gunshot outside the church compound. So, we were wondering what was happening.

“We heard another gunshot at the gate, then there was pandemonium in the church. Everybody was running helter skelter and asking what was happening.

“Then we started hearing sporadic shooting inside the church compound. Then, one of the MOD (Men of Order and Defence) of the church ran towards the church and shouted, ‘Lock the door, lock the door.’ Then, those by the door tried to lock the door.

“Then, we heard some sound at the door. And then, we started hearing footsteps of people running towards the other entrance of the church. They were shooting as well.

“In a matter of seconds, I saw one man holding a gun. He looked at the church, up and down, then he used his hand to beckon someone behind him to come forward,” the witness said.

When asked if he could recognise the man who was holding a gun and beckoning on another of the attackers to come forward, the witness said he could.

When asked to tell the court if the person was among the defendants, the witness pointed at the fifth defendant (Momoh Otuho Abubakar), who shouted in protest.

At that point, Adedipe asked Abubakar, who was wearing a nose mask, to remove it, following which the judge, Justice Emeka Nwite ordered the defendant to move closer to the defendants in the dock so that he could see them properly.

When he moved closer to the defendants, the witness then changed his mind and said the actual person with the gun and who was beckoning another person to come was the second defendant (Al Qasim Idris).

Defence lawyer, Abdullahi Mohammad, objected to the sudden change of mind by the witness, arguing, among others, that having earlier claimed that the fifth defendant was the person he saw, he could no longer change his mind and pick another person since he had not told the court that he has problem with his sight.

Although Adedipe responded by making counterarguments, Justice Nwite overruled Mohammad’s objection and held that what the defence lawyer should concentrate on was how to discredit the witness during cross-examination.

When the witness resumed his testimony, he gave further details of how the attack went and identified the fourth defendant (Abdulhaleem Idris) as one of the attackers.

The witness said, “At that time, another man emerged with a gun and started shooting at the choir gallery, while the first person, who beckoned to the second person started shooting at the people at the lector’s seat.

“So, as they were doing that, later we heard a sound of explosive, there was a second explosive again, and the third one. At that time, when I heard the third explosive, I became very afraid and fell on my face to the ground. Then, I heard the fourth explosive.

“Then, I raised up my eyes, I now saw three people. The third one was black in complexion and was putting a bag across his shoulder.

He now examined the church by looking at us. And, hoping that everybody has been killed, he now made a sign as if to say, let us go. From then, we did not hear any gunshot again,” the witness said.

When asked by Adedipe if he could recognise any of the two attackers beside the second defendant, the witness said yes.

He again moved closer to the defendants in the dock and said, “The person who threw the explosives, I cannot identify. But, the person who was beckoned at and the one who carried the bag when they were about to go, I can identify them.”

He then identified the fourth defendant (Abdulhaleem Idris) as the one who carried the bag while the attackers were about to leave the church premises after the attack.

The witness, however, said he could not identify the person who joined the second defendant in the shooting among the defendants.

He said after the attackers left the church premises, himself and other church members waited for some minutes, after which he raised his head when he could no longer hear any gunshot.

The witness added, “I now raised up my head again and saw two people standing up and trying to run away from the church. The two people who were trying to run away from the church were members of the church.”

He said when he stood up, he jumped through the window by his side, adding that when he landed outside, he saw the dead body of a woman beside a car and another dead body of a man, beside the fence, near the Oba’s palace.

When asked the number of those killed in the attack, the witness said it was more than 40, while many others were injured.

He said, “Apart from the people who died, there were many other casualties. By the time I came back from the hospital, in the afternoon of that day, the whole hospital was filled with casualties of the attack, among whom were people whose legs were amputated.

“After the day of the incident, I visited the church on the second day. The church was badly damaged as a result of the explosions and gunshots. And the whole church was filled with blood everywhere.”

The witness said he was invited by the DSS to its Akure office in Ondo State during an investigation into the incident where he made a statement, a copy of which he identified when Adedipe showed it to him.

The court later admitted it in evidence.

Under cross-examination by Muhammad, the witness said the first prosecution witness in the case was a priest of the church who officiated on the day of the attack.

The witness, who said he normally sits around the second row in the church, told the court that out of the four doors in the church building, only the main one was locked. He said the person who first came in with a gun came in from the door beside the choir stand.

The third prosecution witness, a female, who was labelled ‘SSC,’ with her actual identity shielded by the court, gave details of how she escaped with injuries to her left leg.

The witness,  who said she was also in church during the attack, said she was confused and did not immediately know what to do when she heard the first round of gunshots.

Led in evidence by Adedipe, the witness said: “I was confused and did not know what was happening until an old woman sitting beside me was killed.

“I was still confused and seated down when the choir president came from the choir gallery and grab me up and we ran towards the alter. At the alter, I met brother Chinedu Ojukwu, who help me to lie down on the floor.

“And, we were all lying down when the unknown gunmen climbed to the alter and asked us, ‘do you know why we are doing this?’ I raised up my head and looked at him. I did not see him because of the fear in me. But, he thought I saw him and he said, ‘you that are looking at me, you will die immediately.’ And he dropped the dynamite beside my head and he left.

“Brother Chinedu was the one who asked me to shift, and while sighting, I never knew that my left leg was not yet removed from the dynamite, and the dynamite exploded, and my left leg was damaged with wounds,” she said.

When asked if she had any evidence to show the court that her left leg was damaged, she walked off the witness box and showed the court her left leg, which was damaged as a result of the explosive device that she said was dropped by one of the attackers beside her inside the church hall.

The witness added, “While I was being taken to the hospital, he met my younger cousin’s brother dead. He was just two years old. He was shot in the back of his head

“Thereafter, I was rushed to the hospital by the Reverend Father, brother Chinedu, and Chucks. When I got to the hospital, I met our CYON President, and I asked about my mother and my siblings from him, and he said they are fine.

“I was still anxious to see my mother, and some minutes later, my mother arrived at the hospital. She could not recognise me because of the injury, and the dust from the dynamite made me dark.

“She could only recognise me with my clothes. She finally met me and asked her colleagues to come and assist me. And my father bought everything needed for the treatment that day,” the witness said.

On what the medical personnel who attended to her did to keep the wounds on her leg at the state it currently is, the witness said the affected leg was operated on four times. She said she was also skin grafted to cover the open wounds, adding that presently, there is an iron inside the leg.

The witness, who said she is still on medication, told the court that she made a statement on May 26, 2024, when she was invited to the DSS office in Akure.

She said 41 people died instantly from the attack, while about 100 others were injured.

Under cross-examination by Mohammad, the witness said she came about the number of those killed in the attack from the figure printed on an obituary magazine that was printed on the day of their burial, which stated that 41 people died.

Further hearing in the case continues on January 14 at 12noon.