Owo church massacre: Suspects were funded, mobilised for attack, DSS witness tells court
A Department of State Services (DSS) witness on Tuesday told the federal high court in Abuja that the suspects standing trial over the June 5, 2022, massacre at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo state, were funded, armed and mobilised before carrying out the attack.
Testifying before Emeka Nwite, the presiding judge, the witness, identified only as SSI for security reasons, said he led the DSS counter-terrorism investigation into the incident.
The DSS is prosecuting five suspects, Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris, and Momoh Otuho Abubakar, on a nine-count charge.
Led in evidence by Ayodeji Adedipe, prosecuting counsel, the witness said he heads counter-terrorism investigations at the DSS and was mandated to identify the perpetrators, their sponsors and the circumstances surrounding the attack, which left over 40 people dead and more than 100 injured.
“With that, we proceeded to gather intelligence and also exploited technical resources, which eventually led us to the arrest of five persons in the month of August 2022,” he said.
“The arrest occurred both in Kogi and Ondo states and the persons we arrested were Al-Qasim Idris (2nd defendant) and his brother Abdulhalid Idris (4th defendant), then Omaiza Abdulmalik (1st), then his brother, Jamiu Abdulmalik (3rd),” he said, adding that Momoh Otuho Abubakar was the fifth defendant.
According to him, investigations revealed that the defendants were members of the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP), a proscribed terrorist organisation, operating around Okene and Adavi in Kogi and parts of Ose LGA in Ondo state under the coordination of a man identified as Odoba.
He told the court that on May 30, 2022, Odoba convened a meeting at the Government Secondary School, Ogaminana, where instructions were allegedly given to attack the Catholic Church in Owo.
“So, on the 30 of May, 2022, they met at the Government Secondary School, Ogaminana, where Al-Qasim Idris was present in the meeting and Odoba passed the instruction for them to prepare to attack the Catholic Church Owo,” he said.
“And his instruction was clear that they should attack on Sunday and ensure that they kill the priest.”
The witness said subsequent meetings were held in Omilafia, where the suspects allegedly prepared for the operation.
He added that Abdulhaleem Idris travelled to Adavi on June 4 to hire a vehicle and allegedly received weapons from Odoba.
“He proceeded to lead Odoba, who supported them with five AK47 rifles, 10 magazines, rounds of ammunition and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) for the planned attack,” he said.
The witness explained that the group carried out a “dry practice”, a rehearsal with weapons without live ammunition, before spending the night together ahead of the attack.
He said the suspects drove to the church on the morning of June 5 in a hired Volkswagen Golf, with weapons concealed in sacks.
“The next morning, the 5th of June, the 1st to 4th defendants and Kabir, now at large, were driven in the Golf car, with the weapons concealed in sacks, to the church about 8 to 8:30 am,” the witness said.
“They got to the church, removed the sacks and pulled out their weapons.”
He told the court that the attackers opened fire and detonated explosive devices within and around the church premises.
“They shot sporadically in the church’s sanctuary, outside and all over, including worshippers trying to escape,” he told the court.
“Abdulhaleem, who had the bag containing IEDs, detonated at least three explosives. Other attackers engaged the worshippers with gunshots.
“Forty people, including women and children, died at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC). 23 were wounded and rushed to the hospital.”
The prosecution tendered a medical report and 30 photographs from the scene, which were admitted in evidence without objection. A comprehensive investigation report was also admitted.
On the alleged role of Momoh Otuho Abubakar, the fifth defendant, the witness said investigations showed he operated multiple point-of-sale (POS) outlets and received N800,000 in two tranches weeks before the attack.
“About two to three weeks prior to the attack, his account was credited at two different instances with N800,000,” the witness said.
“He used the POS machine to distribute the money to the individuals, who are members of the Al-Shabab Unit of ISWAP, and the defendants were beneficiaries of this money, with no evidence of business transactions between them.”
He added that technical analysis showed communication between the fifth defendant and the other accused persons around the time of the attack.
Abdullahi Mohammad, counsel to the defendants, did not object to the admissibility of the investigation report but sought time to study it before cross-examining the witness.
Nwite adjourned the case to February 18 for continuation of trial.
