Two survivors of the 2022 massacre at St Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, on Tuesday, gave disturbing eyewitness accounts before a Federal High Court in Abuja, detailing how worshippers were mowed down by gunmen and explosives believed to be planted by suspected members of the Al-Shabab terrorist cell.
Appearing behind a protective screen, a female victim, whose identity was concealed and addressed only as SSC, recounted how her life changed in moments when one of the explosives tore off her left leg.
The student from Anambra State told the court she was worshipping when heavy gunfire shattered the church service, triggering confusion and panic.
According to her, chaos escalated after an elderly woman beside her slumped dead from gunshots.
She narrated how she was dragged to safety by a chorister and taken to the altar, where she met one Brother Chinedu Ojukwu, who instructed her to lie flat as gunmen stormed the sanctuary.
“One of the attackers climbed the altar and asked if we knew why they were doing it,” she told the court, trembling as she relived the incident. “I mistakenly lifted my head.
He thought I was staring at him and vowed that I would die for looking at him.”
She said the armed man dropped a dynamite beside her head and walked off.
Ojukwu alerted her to move, but her shattered leg came moments later.
“I shifted my body but my leg was still on the dynamite. It exploded before I could react.”
The witness stepped out of the stand to show the mutilated leg, prompting silence in the courtroom.
She explained that she underwent several operations, endured skin grafting and still carries metal implants. “I have not stopped treatment,” she added, her voice breaking as she recalled seeing her two-year-old cousin dead from a gunshot wound while being ferried to hospital.
Earlier, another survivor, identified as SSB, a retired civil servant from Owo, told the court he escaped by jumping out of a window after the attackers began firing indiscriminately at worshippers and lobbing explosives.
He said the congregation had just concluded Novena prayers when shots rang out at the church gate, leaving worshippers scrambling for cover.
He testified that he saw gunmen force their way inside, shooting toward the choir and lectern before detonating multiple explosives that shook the building.
He pointed at one of the defendants in the dock as the first attacker who stormed in with a rifle.
He recounted seeing bodies, including his goddaughter, who slipped from his arms moments before the first explosion. “Her mother snatched her back as shots came in.
She was one of those that died,” he said, adding that by the time he fled, corpses littered the premises and body parts were scattered from the blast.
He identified two more defendants, saying the weapons they carried resembled those used by security operatives.
Both witnesses confirmed they later wrote statements to the Department of State Services on May 26, 2024, documents that were tendered as evidence.
The federal government, through the DSS, has charged five men — Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al-Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris and Momoh Otuho Abubakar — over their alleged role in the attack that claimed 40 lives and injured more than 100 worshippers on June 5, 2022, during Pentecost Mass.
The defendants, alleged to belong to a terror cell in Kogi State, have pleaded not guilty to nine counts bordering on terrorism and violent extremism.
They remain in custody after the court denied them bail.
Justice Emeka Nwite adjourned proceedings to Wednesday, with more witnesses expected to testify.