A witness of the Department of State Services (DSS) on Tuesday, told a Federal High Court in Abuja, how the June 5, 2022, terrorist attack was planned and executed against the St Francis Catholic church in Owo, Ondo state, in which 41 people were killed and 140 others injured.
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The witness who gave evidence as the 9th prosecution witness (PW9) with code name SSI for security reasons, is a Deputy Director in charge of terrorism investigation and led the DSS team that investigated the deadly terrorist attack against the church.
Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Mr Ayodeji Adedipe, SAN, the witness claimed that upon the 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.
Upon the gathering of intelligence, he said, DSS operatives arrested five persons in August 2022 in Kogi and Ondo states. Those arrested, according to the witness, are Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Quasim Idris, Jamiu 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 proscribed terrorist organisation.
Narrating 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 the Government Secondary School, Ogaminana, Kogi state where the said, Odoba instructed them to attack the St Francis 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 Saturday, Abdulhaleem Idris travelled to Adavi, where he hired a Volkswagen golf three car, proceeded to Odoba, who supplied them with five AK-47 rifles, ten magazines, live ammunition and improvised 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 Abdulhaleem 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 rifles and explosives, 40 people were instantly killed, and about 140 others received various degrees of injuries. Additionally, the dead and the injured were taken to the Federal Medical Centre at Owo and St Louis Hospital in Owo.
At Tuesday’s proceedings, several exhibits by the DSS, comprising a detailed 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 adjourned till February 18 for cross-examination of the witness by the counsel to the defendants.
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