Owo Catholic Church Attack: Court admits exhibits as more witnesses testify

By : Ameh Ochojila

Date: 13 January 2026 5:10pm WAT

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A view of St. Francis Catholic Church, Nigeria June 6, 2022. REUTERS Temilade Adelaja

A view of St. Francis Catholic Church, Nigeria June 6, 2022. REUTERS Temilade Adelaja

Two additional witnesses testified on Tuesday against the five defendants put on trial by the Department of State Service (DSS) for allegedly masterminding the June 5, 2022 terror attacks against the Saint Francis Savier Catholic Church in Owo town, Ondo State.

The two witnesses testified at the Federal High Court in Abuja, where additional exhibits by the Department of State Service (DSS) were tendered and admitted against the accused persons.

The violent attack, which involved sporadic shooting and explosives against the church, left 41 worshippers instantly dead and over 100 others sustained various degrees of injuries, including amputations of legs.

At Tuesday’s proceedings, the two witnesses, code-named SSB and SSC, pathetically narrated how the gunmen stormed the church, locked the main entrance door, and fired several gunshots at the worshippers.

A lady witness, code-named SSB, a student from Anambra State, told Justice Emeka Nwite how the unknown gunmen forced their way into the church and fired shots at the choir gallery, during which heavy pandemonium took over the church.

She said that dynamite was set to her head to blow her up for having the audacity to raise her head while one of the gunmen was speaking, but she swiftly moved her body, only for her left leg to be shattered by the heavy explosion of the dynamite.

Led in evidence by the DSS lawyer, Ayodeji Adedipe SAN, the female witness showed the damaged left leg to the court upon permission to do so.

The witness confirmed that the damaged leg was operated on four times by medical experts before she could walk again.

The SSC noted with sadness that iron had been fixed in the leg to support it and that it had not been removed to date.

She said that her brother’s cousin, aged two, was not lucky during the attack, as he was shot in the back of the head and died on the spot.

The second witness, code-named SSB, had earlier narrated the same account of the attack and said that 40 worshippers were counted dead shortly after the gunmen left the scene.

He confirmed that the church was bombed three times with dynamite, resulting in serious damage to the church.

The two witnesses confirmed that they were invited by DSS to its Akure office, where they volunteered their statements on May 26, 2024.

Meanwhile, the two extra-judicial statements made by the two witnesses to DSS have been admitted as Exhibits B and C by Justice Emeka Nwite, following the absence of objections to their admission.

At the close of Tuesday’s proceedings, counsel for DSS, Ayodeji Adedipe SAN, said he intends to call seven more witnesses, but only two will testify on January 14.

The Department of State Services (DSS) is prosecuting the five suspected terrorists under a nine-count amended charge.

They are Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (25 years), Al Qasim Idris (20 years), Jamiu Abdulmalik (26 years), Abdulhaleem Idris (25 years) and Momoh Otuho Abubakar (47 years).

During the arraignment, the defendants pleaded not guilty to the nine-count charges.

At Tuesday’s proceedings, Abdullahi Auwal Mohammed appeared for the defence of the five defendants.

Meanwhile, Justice Emeka Nwite has fixed January 14 for the continuation of the trial.

It will be recalled that a Catholic priest and one of the victims of the terrorist attacks, code-named SSA for security reasons, testified for DSS as prosecution witness One (PW-1) in the trial on Thursday, December 11, 2025.

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