A witness from the Department of State Services has given a vivid account of how the June 5, 2022, terror attack was planned and executed against the St Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo state.
The witness who gave evidence as a prosecution witness number nine with security code S.S.I. is a deputy director in charge of terrorism investigation, who led the DSS panel that investigated the deadly terror attack against the church.
Led in evidence by counsel to the DSS, Ayodeji Adedipe (SAN), the witness claimed that after receipt of information on the terrorism attack, his team was detailed to unravel the perpetrators, the cause of the incident, their sponsors, and any other findings.
He said that after gathering intelligence, the DSS operatives arrested five persons in August 2022 in Kogi and Ondo states.
He named those arrested as Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Quasim Idris, Jemiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris, and Momoh Otuho Abubakar.
The witness said that preliminary investigation revealed that they are members of Al-Shabab, an arm of the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP), a terrorist organization said to have been outlawed.
Revealing how the attack was perfected, the witness told the court that the defendants, under the control of one, Odoba held a meeting on 30th May, 2022 at Government Secondary School, Ogaminana, Kogi state where the said, Odoba passed instruction to them to attack the Catholic church in Owo, adding that the instruction was clear to the effect that the attack should be carried out on Sunday and that the priest in charge of the court should be killed.
He said that, Al- Quasim Idris, who was part of the meeting, returned to Omilafia and Omilenge, where others operating as Al-Shabab members were briefed on the meeting at Ogaminana in Kogi state.
As a follow-up to that meeting, the DSS witness said, a meeting was also called on Friday after Jumaat prayer, where the father of the second and third defendants was the chief imam, and that instruction was passed to the members on the Owo attack.
The witness also said that the following Sunday, Abdulhaleem Idris travelled to Adavi, where he hired a Volkswagen golf three car, proceeded to Odoba, who supplied them with five AK 47 riffle, ten magazines, live ammunition, and explosive devices.
The witness said that members of the terror group slept in the room of Abdulhaleem Idris, where the plan for the attack was revealed, after which they engaged in orientation on how to handle weapons and also take precautions.
He further stated that Abdulhakeem Idris took his father’s motorcycle to Mohammed and Abdullahi, who came from the north to participate in the attack and to facilitate their movement for surveillance of the church during the attack.
On June 5, 2022, the first to fourth defendants, together with one Kabiru, said to be at large, were driven in the Volkswagen Gulf car with the weapons kept in a sack, adding that the weapons were brought out on arrival at the church, where a hawker saw them.
In the process, the witness said that a member of Deeper Life Church, coming in a Nissan car, had the vehicle snatched from him, which led to chaos, and that the suspected terrorists proceeded to the Catholic church, shooting sporadically outside and within the sanctuary of the church.
With the use of AK 47 riffles and explosives, 40 people were instantly killed, and about 140 others received various degrees of injuries. Additionally, the dead and the injured ones were taken to the Federal Medical Center at Owo and St Louis Hospital in Owo.
At Tuesday’s proceedings, several exhibits by DSS, comprising the DSS investigation report, autopsy report, photograph of the dead ones, death report, signed by Dr. Ayodeji O.O were admitted as exhibits by Justice Emeka Nwite.
Meanwhile, the court has adjourned till February 18 for cross-examination of the witness by the counsel to the defendants.
