Abuja: A nurse with the Ondo State Hospital Management Board on Wednesday told an Abuja court how she lost both legs and her left eye during the June 5, 2022, terrorist assault on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State.
Her harrowing testimony underscored the human toll of the attack that shocked the nation.
The nurse, who is the Department of State Services (DSS)’s 4th prosecution witness (PW-4), told Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja while being led in evidence by the DSS lawyer, Ayodeji Adedipe, SAN.
The witness, identified as “SSD” due to security reasons, gave details of how a dynamite thrown into the church hall shattered her legs and destroyed her left eye.
She said the incident occurred during the church’s Pentecost Sunday service.
The PW-4 said that, while the service was about to end, they heard the first gunshot outside the church and thought it was a banger thrown during the celebration.
She said when the attack became intense, she ran to the altar to lie down, where she met a lot of people struggling to save their lives.
“And a lot of people came after me and lay on top of me. I was there praying in my heart that God would save my family because I did not know the direction they ran to.
“I also told God to have mercy on me and that, if that is going to be my last day on earth, He should forgive me all my sins.
“Then, the gunshots continued sporadically.
“I heard a loud sound, which I believed to be a dynamite sound. Then I didn’t know what happened until everywhere became calm, and I realised I was still alive.
“Then, 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.
“Then, I could not talk, my voice was gone, and I could not hear well. I was hearing faintly.
“And, I was trying to call for help, but my voice was not coming out. So, then I started waving my hands and saying ambulance, hospital.
“I was taken to the hospital along with other victims and dead bodies.
“When I was receiving treatment in the hospital, I lost my left eye, and now I use a prosthesis,” she narrated.
The witness asked the judge if she could remove the prosthesis so the court could see it.
According to her, I also lost my two legs.
“The two legs were amputated above the knees.
“I spent about five months plus in the hospital before I was discharged. Since then, I have been in a wheelchair,” the witness said.
At that point, Adedipe applied to the court that the witness, who was in a wheelchair, be wheeled out to the middle of the courtroom for the court to see the amputated legs and the damaged eye.
Justice Nwite granted the application, and the witness was then moved to the middle of the courtroom where she showed the judge the damaged eye and legs.
She said no fewer than 41 worshippers died in the attack.
Under cross-examination by the defence lawyer, Abdullahi Mohammad, the witness said she could not count the number of people with whom she was at the church altar during the attack.
On what could have affected her left eye, SSD said she could not say precisely, but thought it might have been the dynamite, because the roof at the altar was destroyed by the blast from the dynamite.
On how she knew that 41 people died in the attack, the witness said she did not know immediately, but learnt about it when she came to life and started asking about what happened.
The witness said she also learnt about the number of casualties from the programme that was printed when the dead were being given mass burial.
SSD said she did not know the number of those who came to attack the church.
Also, based on his testimony, the PW-5, tagged as “SSE,” stated that he was a civil servant and the husband of SSD (the nurse).
Testifying, the PW-5 said he was in the church on that day with his mother, his wife and three children (two girls and a boy).
“The congregation gathered in the church, in which my family was not left out.
“After the mass, the priest now gave the final blessing for everyone to go. It was then that we heard the first gunshot outside the church.
“So, we thought it was a banger that people throw to commemorate the event of Pentecost.
“But later, the sound continued, approaching fast, to the church.
“Then the MOD (Men of Discipline), who happened to be one of the church’s wardens, shouted that everyone should lie down.
“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.
“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,” he said
The SSE said the terrorists first shot 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 device 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.
“After a while, without anyone moving, I tried to raise up my head a bit.
“I saw one of the assailants hanging his gun on his shoulder, jogging to the altar, the sanctuary, and throwing another dynamite there and running faster than before out of the scene.
“For almost two to three minutes, the device was exploding, destroying both human beings and church structures.
“For some minutes, the church still remained silent until the time outsiders ran inside, shouting that they (the attackers) had gone,” he said.
According to him, it was then that I stood up, moved outside and even climbed over some corpses on the floor, looking for my family members.
“Outside, I saw my mother and my two daughters, leaving my wife and my son. I went back to the church.
“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,” the witness said.
He added that while still searching for his son, he saw a woman on the floor whose lower part had been shattered and sympathised with her, only to later find out that the woman was his wife.
“I went out of the church, by the side of my car, and a woman was shot there with her child.
“And some of the bullets that penetrated the woman also damaged my car.
“Thereafter, somebody called me to say that my wife is somewhere outside the church. I went there to see her.
“I discovered that it was the woman that I passed by in the church, whom I did not recognise, but was pitying, who turned out to be my wife,” he said.
The witness said his wife was later taken to the Federal Medical Centre in Owo by another member of the church.
He added that on getting to the hospital, he handed his wife over to a doctor, who happened to be a member of their church.
“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.
“As of today, she lives with no legs and one eye.”
The witness said that after the incident, the Ondo State Government promised to provide his wife with prostheses for her legs, but the vendor was unable to provide useful prostheses until the then administration of the late Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu left office.
He said he had called the current Commissioner of Health in Ondo State about the issue, but the Commissioner did nothing.
Under cross-examination by Mohammad, the witness said the attackers used both guns and dynamite inside the church.
On where he was when the assailants entered the church, the witness said he was in the church and hiding under the pew.
He said he could see the attackers where he was, but could not see their faces clearly.
On how many attackers there were, the witness said he saw three inside the church and one outside, who was shooting through the window.
Justice Nwite adjourned the matter until Feb. 10 and Feb. 11 for continuation of the trial.
In the ongoing terrorism trial, the DSS is prosecuting Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (25 years), Al Qasim Idris (20 years), Jamiu Abdulmalik (26 years), Abdulhaleem Idris (25 years), and Momoh Otuho Abubakar (47 years) as the 1st to 5th defendants, respectively.