The Department of State Services (DSS) has said it will call ten witnesses to give evidence in the ongoing trial of five defendants accused of perpetrating the June 5, 2022, attack on St Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, which claimed over 40 lives and left more than 100 worshippers injured.
Counsel to the DSS, Ayodeji Adedipe, SAN, prosecuting the Federal Government, gave the indication on Tuesday after the evidence of the second and third prosecution witnesses before Justice Emeka Nwite.
The defendants, Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (25), Al Qasim Idris (20), Jamiu Abdulmalik (26), Abdulhaleem Idris (25) and Momoh Otuho Abubakar (47), are being prosecuted by the DSS.
Earlier in his evidence, the second prosecution witness, codenamed SSB, a retiree based in Owo, Ondo State, told the court that on that fateful day, June 5, 2022, when Mass was about to end, gunmen attacked the church, shooting sporadically, killing over 40 parishioners and leaving more than 100 seriously injured.
SSB, who gave a vivid account of the incident, said there were four explosions on that day, which caused serious damage to the church building.
“As one of the survivors of the attack, I was invited to the DSS office in Akure on May 26, 2024, where I wrote a statement,” the witness said while being led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Ayodeji Adedipe, SAN.
Under cross-examination by defence counsel, Abdullahi Mohammad, SSB told the court that he was aware that the first prosecution witness (SSA), who was the priest that officiated the Mass on the day of the attack, had earlier testified in the matter.
In her testimony, the third prosecution witness, codenamed SSC, who sustained severe injury to her leg during the incident, told the court that she became confused when she heard gunshots and the sound of explosives.
“I ran to the altar, where I met Brother Chinedu, who laid me down on the floor. We were all lying down when the unknown gunmen climbed the altar and asked us if we knew why they were doing what they were doing.
“I raised my head and tried to look at him, but could not because of the fear in me. The gunman thought I saw him and said to me, ‘You that are looking at me, you will die immediately.’ He then dropped a dynamite beside my head and left,” she said.
The witness said that while attempting to move away from the dynamite, she did not realise that her left leg had already been severely injured before the explosive detonated, further damaging the limb.
With the leave of the court, the witness stepped into the open court and showed the trial judge her damaged left leg, which she said had been operated on four times since the incident.
The statements of the second and third prosecution witnesses, written at the DSS office in Akure, were tendered by the prosecution counsel and admitted by the court as Exhibits B and C.
The five defendants were arraigned on a nine-count terrorism charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/301/2025, filed by the DSS.
The five defendants were arraigned on a nine-count terrorism charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/301/2025, filed by the DSS.
In the charge, they were accused, among other things, of being members of the Al Shabab terrorist group, with a cell in Kogi State.
The defendants, who have been in the custody of the DSS since their arrest in 2022, are also alleged to have carried out the attack in furtherance of their religious ideology.
They pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to them by a court official.
Some counts in the charge read: “That you, Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris and Momoh Otuho Abubakar, adults and males, with others still at large, sometime in 2021, did join and become members of Al Shabab Terrorist Group, with a cell in Kogi State, and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 25(1) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
“That you, Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris and Momoh Otuho Abubakar, adults and males, with others still at large, on May 30, 2022 and June 4, 2022, at Government Secondary School, Ogaminana, Adavi LGA, Kogi State, and behind Omialafa Central Mosque, Ose LGA, Ondo State, respectively, attended and held meetings where you agreed to and planned the terrorist attack which you carried out on June 5, 2022, at St Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 12(a) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.