A couple yesterday told a Federal High Court in Abuja how the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, was attacked by terrorists on June 5, 2022.
The spouse gave details of what transpired.
The couple narrated their experience while testifying in the ongoing trial of five men accused of participating in the terror attack.
The Department of State Services (DSS) is prosecuting Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (25 years), Al Qasim Idris 20), Jamiu Abdulmalik (26), Abdulhaleem Idris (25) and Momoh Otuho Abubakar (47) for the attack.
The husband, who was tagged “SSE,” said he walked over the bodies of many young worshippers in the church hall while trying to locate his son, who was missing.
His wife, who was named “SSD,” gave details of how a dynamite thrown into the church hall shattered her legs and destroyed her left eye.
Led in evidence by the prosecuting lawyer, Ayodeji Adedipe (SAN), SSE, who testified as the fifth prosecution witness (PW5), said he was in the church 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 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.
“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 incident, the Ondo State government promised to give his wife prostheses for her legs, but the vendor was unable to provide useful prostheses until the administration of the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu left office.
The witness said he had called the current Commissioner of Health in Ondo State on the issue, but he could not do anything.
During cross-examination by the defence lawyer, Abdullahi Mohammad, the witness said the attackers used guns and dynamite inside the church.
Recalling where he was when the assailants entered the church, the witness said he hid under the church’s pew. He said he could see the attackers where he was but could not see their faces clearly.
When asked about the number of attackers he saw, the witness said he saw three inside the church, and one outside shooting through the window.
Testifying earlier as the fourth prosecution witness (PW4), SSD, who described herself as a nurse with the Ondo State Hospital Management Board, narrated an account that was similar to that of SSE.
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, Adedipe applied to the court that the witness be wheeled out to the middle of the courtroom for the court to see the amputated legs and the damaged eye.
Justice Emeka Nwite granted the request.
The witness was moved to the middle of the courtroom, where she showed the judge the damaged eye and legs.
When Mohammed cross-examined her, the witness said she could not recollect the number of people who were with her at the church altar during the attack.
She said she could not count the number of those she met at the altar where she ran to to hide.
The witness said she could not say precisely what damaged her eye but thought it might be the dynamite.
According to her, the roof at the altar was destroyed by the impact of the dynamite.
Recalling how she knew that 41 people died in the attack, the witness said she did not know immediately but later when she regained consciousness and started asking about what happened.
The witness also said she learnt about the number of casualties from the programme that was printed when the dead were given a mass burial.
SSD said she did not know the number of those who attacked the church.
Justice Nwite adjourned further hearing in the case till February 10 and 11.