A husband and wife on Wednesday provided harrowing testimony before a Federal High Court in Abuja, recounting the terror that unfolded when armed assailants attacked St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, during Mass on June 5, 2022.
The couple shared their accounts during the ongoing trial of five suspects charged in connection with the attack.
Those facing prosecution by the Department of State Services (DSS) are Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (25), Al Qasim Idris (20), Jamiu Abdulmalik (26), Abdulhaleem Idris (25), and Momoh Otuho Abubakar (47).
The husband, identified in court as “SSE,” described the nightmare of searching through the bodies of deceased young people scattered across the church floor as he desperately tried to find his missing son.
His wife, identified as “SSD,” recounted how an explosive device hurled into the sanctuary destroyed both her legs and ruptured her left eye.
The Attack Unfolds
Testifying as the fifth prosecution witness (PW5) and led by prosecuting counsel Ayodeji Adedipe (SAN), SSE explained that he attended the service with his mother, wife, and three children—two daughters and a son.
“After Mass concluded and the priest gave the final blessing, we heard the first gunshot outside,” SSE told the court. “We initially thought someone was setting off firecrackers to celebrate Pentecost. But the sounds continued, growing closer to the church.”
A church warden known as MOD (Men of Discipline) shouted for everyone to lie down and rushed to secure the entrance. The gunmen were already on the premises but temporarily blocked from entering.
“They fired through the windows and shot those attempting to escape outside,” SSE said. “When the MOD could no longer hold the entrance, the attackers forced their way in.”
The assailants initially targeted those fleeing toward the exits. When a crowd gathered behind the exit door, an explosive was thrown into their midst.
“The device detonated repeatedly, one explosion after another. Dust and smoke filled the entire church. For a long time, no one spoke,” SSE recalled.
When a woman stood to check if the attackers had left, she was shot. SSE remained hidden beneath a church pew. Eventually, he saw one attacker jog to the altar, throw another explosive device, and flee.
“For two to three minutes, the explosions continued, destroying both people and the church structure,” he said.
A Desperate Search
When outsiders confirmed the attackers had gone, SSE emerged to find his mother and two daughters outside. His wife and son were still missing.
“You can imagine what it felt like having to turn over the bodies of young people on the floor, searching to see if any of them was my son,” SSE said, his voice heavy with emotion.
While searching, he passed a woman on the floor whose lower body had been destroyed. He felt sympathy for her, not realizing it was his own wife.
“Outside the church, beside my car, a woman and her child had been shot. Some bullets that struck her also damaged my vehicle,” he testified. “Then someone told me my wife was outside. When I went to her, I realized the woman I had passed earlier—the one I didn’t recognize but pitied—was my wife.”
Another church member rushed his wife to the Federal Medical Centre in Owo. There, SSE signed consent forms for emergency surgery. Both her legs were amputated above the knees, and doctors later discovered her left eye was ruptured.
“As of today, she lives without legs and with one eye,” SSE told the court.
He added that the Ondo State government under the late Governor Rotimi Akeredolu promised to provide prosthetic legs, but the vendor failed to deliver functional prostheses before the administration ended. Despite contacting the current Commissioner of Health, no action has been taken.
The Wife’s Testimony
Testifying earlier as the fourth prosecution witness (PW4), SSD—a nurse with the Ondo State Hospital Management Board—corroborated her husband’s account.
She described running to the altar and lying down among a crowd of people who piled on top of her.
“I prayed in my heart for God to save my family since I didn’t know where they had gone,” SSD said. “I asked God for mercy and to forgive my sins if that was going to be my last day on earth.”
After the explosions ceased and silence returned, she realized she was still alive.
“I touched my eyes—everything was bloody. I touched my legs and felt nothing, just what seemed like rags and dangling, shattered flesh. My voice was gone, and I could barely hear. I tried calling for help, but no sound came out. So I waved my hands and mouthed ‘Ambulance, hospital.'”
At the hospital, she lost her left eye and both legs, which were amputated above the knees. She spent over five months hospitalized before being discharged.
“Since then, I have been in a wheelchair,” she said.
With the court’s permission, SSD was wheeled to the center of the courtroom, where she removed her prosthetic eye and displayed her amputated legs to Justice Emeka Nwite.
Cross-Examination
Under cross-examination by defense lawyer Abdullahi Mohammad, SSE confirmed the attackers used both firearms and explosives. He stated he saw three assailants inside the church and one outside firing through windows, though he could not clearly see their faces from his hiding place beneath the pew.
SSD testified that she could not count how many people were sheltering at the altar during the attack. She said she learned that 41 people died only after regaining consciousness and seeing the program printed for the mass burial of victims.
Neither witness could identify how many attackers participated in the assault.
Justice Nwite adjourned the trial until February 10 and 11 for further proceedings.
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