Owo church attack: Another DSS’ witness identifies alleged attacker
A witness of the Department of State Services (DSS) in the ongoing trial of four men accused of being behind the June 5, 2022 attack on the St. Francis Xavier
A witness of the Department of State Services (DSS) in the ongoing trial of four men accused of being behind the June 5, 2022 attack on the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State yesterday identified one of the defendants as part of the actual attackers.
The witness, who said he is a member of the Ondo Security Network (Amotekun), told a Federal High Court in Abuja that he was able to identify the second defendant (Al Qasim Idris) because they had an exchange of gunfire at close range.
This is the second time since the trial opened that a prosecution witness would be identifying some of the defendants as the attackers.
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The second prosecution witness, identified as “SSB”, who said he is a member of the church and was in church when the attack occurred, had, while testifying on January 13, identified Al Qasim Idris (second defendant) and Abdulhaleem Idris (fourth defendant) as those he saw among the attackers.
The DSS is prosecuting Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (25), Al Qasim Idris 20), Jamiu Abdulmalik (26), Abdulhaleem Idris (25) and Momoh Otuho Abubakar (47) over the June 5, 2022 attack on the church.
Led in evidence by prosecuting lawyer, Ayodeji Adedipe (SAN), the seventh prosecution witness (PW7), identified as “SSG”, told the court that he was alerted to the attack by his state commander and ordered him and his team to move to the church.
The witness said on getting to the church, he saw blood everywhere and bodies of children, men and women on the floor, including the church hall. He said he saw 35 bodies.
PW7 said himself and members of his team were told that the attackers just left the church in a Nissan Sunny car and went in a particular direction.
