Owo Church Attack: Witness Tells Court How He Waded Through Corpses Searching for Son

Owo Church Attack:

A survivor of the June 5, 2022 attack on St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, on Wednesday narrated before a Federal High Court in Abuja how he waded through corpses in a desperate search for his missing son, moments after gunmen and explosives ripped through the church.The witness, identified as SSE, testified as the fifth prosecution witness (PW5) in the ongoing trial of five men accused of carrying out the deadly attack. Another survivor, his wife identified as SSD, also told the court how the explosion shattered both her legs and destroyed her left eye.The Department of State Services (DSS) is prosecuting Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (25), Al Qasim Idris (20), Jamiu Abdulmalik (26), Abdulhaleem Idris (25) and Momoh Otuho Abubakar (47) over the attack, which claimed dozens of lives.Led in evidence by prosecuting counsel, Ayodeji Adedipe (SAN), SSE said he attended the church service with his mother, wife and their three children on the day of the attack.According to him, shortly after the final blessing, gunshots rang out near the church, initially mistaken for celebratory firecrackers associated with Pentecost.“The sound continued and was approaching fast,” he told the court. “The Men of Discipline in the church asked everyone to lie down and tried to secure the entrance, but the attackers were already around the premises.”He said the assailants shot through the windows and at worshippers attempting to flee. When they eventually forced their way into the church, an explosive device was thrown at congregants huddled near an exit.“The device started exploding sporadically. The whole church was full of dust and smoke. For a long time, nobody spoke,” SSE said.He recounted how another explosive was later thrown near the altar, followed by minutes of devastating blasts that killed worshippers and damaged church structures.When the attackers finally fled, SSE said he emerged and began searching for his family.“I even climbed some corpses on the floor, looking for my family members,” he said. “My lord, you can imagine the feeling when I had to be turning the corpses of young people to see if any of them was my son.”He said he later realised that a severely injured woman he had earlier pitied inside the church was, in fact, his wife.SSE told the court that his wife was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, where doctors amputated both her legs. He added that she also lost her left eye to the blast.“As at today, she lives with no legs and one eye,” he said.He further told the court that the Ondo State Government had promised prosthetic limbs for his wife, but the promise was not fulfilled before the end of the administration of the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu. According to him, efforts to get help from the current Commissioner for Health have also been unsuccessful.Under cross-examination by defence counsel Abdullahi Mohammad, SSE said the attackers used both guns and dynamite, adding that he saw at least three gunmen inside the church and one outside shooting through the windows, though he could not clearly see their faces.Earlier, SSD, who testified as the fourth prosecution witness (PW4), gave an emotional account of how she sustained her injuries. A nurse with the Ondo State Hospital Management Board, she said she ran towards the altar to hide when the shooting started.“I was praying in my heart that God should save my family,” she said. “Then I heard a loud sound, which I believed to be dynamite.”She said she later discovered her legs had been shattered and her vision severely damaged.“I lost my left eye and now use a prosthesis. I also lost my two legs; they were amputated above the knees,” she told the court, adding that she spent over five months in hospital and has since been confined to a wheelchair.At the request of the prosecution, and with the approval of Justice Emeka Nwite, SSD was wheeled to the middle of the courtroom, where she showed the court her amputated legs and damaged eye.Under cross-examination, she said she could not determine how many attackers were involved or the exact cause of her eye injury, though she believed it resulted from the dynamite blast that destroyed the roof near the altar. She also said she later learnt that 41 people died in the attack through information shared after the incident and during the victims’ mass burial.Justice Nwite adjourned further hearing in the case to February 10 and 11.