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A woman has narrated how she lost both legs and an eye on June 5, 2022, during an attack on St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo state.
The woman, identified by the court as SSD (for privacy reasons), testified alongside her husband before a federal high court in Abuja in the ongoing trial of five men accused of carrying out the attack.
The Department of State Services (DSS) is prosecuting Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris, and Momoh Otuho Abubakar on a nine-count charge.
The terrorist attack claimed the lives of over 40 worshippers and left more than 100 others injured.
‘I STEPPED OVER CORPSES LOOKING FOR MY SON’
Testifying as the fifth prosecution witness (PW5), the husband, identified by the court as SSE, said he attended the mass with his mother, wife, and their three children on the day of the attack.
He told the court that the congregation had just received the final blessing when gunshots rang out, adding that worshippers initially thought the sound was from celebratory fireworks.
“So, we thought it was a banger that people throw to commemorate the event of Pentecost. But later, the sound continued, approaching the church,” he said.
According to him, a church warden, known as the man of discipline (MOD), ordered everyone to lie down and locked the main entrance.
“He (MOD) ran to the entrance door and closed it. By then, the gunmen were already around the church’s premises but could not enter through the entrance door,” the witness said.
“They were then shooting through the windows, and those who wanted to escape, they shot them outside. When the MOD discovered that he could no longer withstand it, he left the entrance door, and the assailants gained entrance into the church.
“They were first shooting those who wanted to run out of the church. But, noticing that those who wanted to move out of the small door at the same time were many, an explosive device was thrown at the place where people gathered behind the exit door, where I lay down.
“And the devices started exploding sporadically, one after the other. The whole church was full of dust and smoke. For long, no human being talked. When the device ceased, we thought they had gone.
“A woman stood up to see, and she was shot. And then, I buried myself back under the church pew.”
He said one of the attackers later ran towards the altar and threw another explosive.
The witness said when people eventually shouted that the attackers had fled, he stood up and began searching for his family members.
“It was then that I stood up, moved outside, and even climbed over some corpses on the floor, looking for my family members,” he said.
He told the court that his mother and two daughters were found outside the church and went inside to continue searching.
“My lord, you can imagine the feeling when I had to be searching and turning the corpses of young people on the floor to see if any of them was my son,” he said.
According to him, he noticed a woman with shattered legs lying on the floor but did not recognise her at the time.
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He later discovered that the injured woman was his wife.
“I discovered that it was the woman that I passed by in the church, which I did not recognise but was pitying, who turned out to be my wife,” he said.
He added that his wife was taken to the Federal Medical Centre in Owo, where doctors amputated both her legs.
“At the hospital, I signed for my wife to be amputated, and her two legs were amputated. And we discovered later that one of the eyes was ruptured,” he said.
“As of today, she lives with no legs and one eye.”
The witness said the Ondo state government had promised to provide prosthetic legs for his wife, noting that nothing came of it.
WIFE RECOUNTS LOSS OF LEGS, EYE
Earlier, SSE’s wife, identified as SSD, testified as the fourth prosecution witness (PW4).
She said she ran towards the altar when the shooting started.
“I ran to the altar to lie down, where I met a lot of people already. And a lot of people came after me and lay on top of me,” she said.
The woman said she prayed silently as gunshots continued and later heard a loud blast.
“I heard a loud sound, which I believed to be a dynamite sound. Then, I didn’t know what followed until everything became calm and I realised that I was still alive,” she said.
SSD told the court she immediately realised the extent of her injuries.
“I touched my eyes; everywhere was bloody. I touched my leg, and I could not feel anything, only what felt like rags and the dangling, shattered part of my leg,” she said.
“Then, I could not talk; my voice was gone, and I could not hear well. I was hearing faintly.
“So, then I started waving my hands and saying ambulance, hospital.”
SSD said she lost her left eye and both legs (amputated above the knee) after undergoing treatment.
According to her, she spent over five months in the hospital and has since relied on a wheelchair.
At the request of the prosecution, Emeka Nwite, presiding judge, ordered that SSD be wheeled to the centre of the courtroom.
The witness then showed the court her damaged eye and amputated legs.
The judge adjourned further hearing in the case till February 10 and 11.
