Owo Church Attack: How they blew off my leg with dynamite, witness tells court

Owo massacre victims

Two survivors of the terrorist attack that killed 40 members of St Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, in 2022, on Tuesday, testified before the Federal High Court in Abuja.

They gave a hair-raising account of what happened.

In their separate testimonies, the witnesses narrated how the church came under heavy gunfire, with no fewer than four explosives detonated by the assailants, who were allegedly members of the Al Shabab terrorist sect.

In her evidence in the ongoing trial of five alleged members of the sect that masterminded the attack, a woman, whose identity was shielded for security reasons, narrated how her left leg was damaged by one of the dynamites.

Testifying behind a protective shield, the witness, who was simply identified as “SSC”, told the court that the sporadic gunshots that ensued during the church service had thrown her into a confused state.

“I was confused and didn’t know what to do. I was in that state until an old woman sitting close to me was killed.

“It was then that someone from the choir gallery grabbed me, and we ran towards the altar.

“At the altar, I met Brother Chinedu Ojukwu, who helped me to lie down on the floor.

“We were all on the floor when the unknown gunmen climbed the altar, and one of them asked if we knew why they were doing what they were doing,” the witness, who told the court that she is a student from Anambra state, added.

Continuing, she said, “At that point, I raised my head and looked at him, but because of fear, I could not see him well.

“But he thought that I saw him, and he said that for looking at him, I will die immediately.

“He then dropped a dynamite beside my head and left. Brother Chinedu was the one who asked me to shift. While shifting, I never knew that my left leg was still on the dynamite. It exploded, and my left leg was damaged.”

Asked if she had any evidence to show that her left leg was damaged, the witness stepped out of the box and showed her leg to the court.

The witness who was led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Mr Ayodeji Adedipe, SAN, told the court that over 100 persons were seriously injured by the assailants.

“Thereafter, I was taken to the hospital. On our way, I met my cousin brother dead. He was just two years old. He was shot in the back of his head.

“When I got to the hospital, I met our CYON president, and I asked about my mother and siblings, and he told me that they were fine.

“Later, my mum arrived at the hospital but could not recognise me because of the injury, and the dynamite made me dark. She could only recognise my clothes.

“I went through four operations, and I was also skin-grafted to cover the wound. Presently, there is an iron inside the leg. I have not stopped getting treatment.

“41 died instantly, and about 100 others were injured,” she added.

A statement she made to the Department of State Services (DSS) on May 26, 2024, was admitted in evidence and marked as Exhibit C.

Earlier in the proceedings, an elderly man who was among the survivors, while testifying as the second prosecution witness, PW-2, told the court that he jumped through the church window.

Testifying as “SSB”, the PW-2 told the court that he is a retiree that lives in Isuaga, Owo, in Ondo state, adding that the attack occurred on June 5, 2022, while the church was celebrating the Feast of Pentecost. Vanguard