A witness of the Department of State Services (DSS) on Tuesday identified one of the defendants in the ongoing trial over the June 5, 2022 attack on St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, as one of the gunmen who carried out the assault.
Testifying before the Federal High Court in Abuja, the witness, identified as PW7 (SSG) and a member of the Ondo State Security Network (Amotekun), said he identified the second defendant, Al Qasim Idris, during an exchange of gunfire at close range.
This is the second time since the trial commenced that prosecution witnesses have directly identified some of the defendants as participants in the attack.
Earlier, another prosecution witness, PW2 (SSB), who said he was a church member present during the attack, had on January 13 identified Al Qasim Idris (second defendant) and Abdulhaleem Idris (fourth defendant) as among the attackers.
The DSS is prosecuting Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (25), Al Qasim Idris (20), Jamiu Abdulmalik (26), Abdulhaleem Idris (25) and Momoh Otuho Abubakar (47) over the deadly church attack.
Led in evidence by prosecuting counsel, Ayodeji Adedipe (SAN), PW7 told the court that he was alerted to the incident by his state commander and immediately mobilised his team to the church.
According to him, on arrival, he saw bloodstains and bodies of men, women and children scattered within the church premises, adding that he counted about 35 corpses.
PW7 said his team was informed that the attackers had fled in a blue Nissan Sunny and headed towards Achievers University, Ute Road.
“We pursued them and got to Ijegunman Village. When they saw us, they abandoned the vehicle and ran into the bush. They were four in number,” he said.
He told the court that a search of the abandoned vehicle, with registration number AKR 895 AG, revealed packs of sachet water. Two of his men were directed to take the vehicle to the Amotekun office in Owo.
PW7 said he and a local hunter continued the pursuit into the bush, where they later encountered the fleeing suspects.
“They all had AK-47 rifles and opened fire on us. I responded with my pump-action gun. Three of them escaped deeper into the bush, while one hid behind a tree and shot the hunter who was behind me,” he said.
The witness added that he saw the shooter at close range and could still identify him despite the incident occurring nearly four years ago.
Following an application by the prosecution, which was not opposed by defence counsel Abdullahi Mohammed, the court permitted the witness to move closer to the dock. PW7 pointed at Al Qasim Idris as the man who shot and killed the hunter.
Under cross-examination, PW7 again identified the second defendant and explained that he could not arrest him at the scene because the suspect was armed with an AK-47 rifle, which he said was more powerful than his own weapon.
He said the eventual arrest of the second defendant was the result of joint efforts by security agencies in Ondo State.
PW7 also told the court that photographs of the recovered vehicle, taken with his Samsung Galaxy A12 phone, were tendered and admitted in evidence.
Earlier, the sixth prosecution witness, PW6 (SSF), a pathologist, tendered a certified true copy of the autopsy report on victims of the attack, which was admitted without objection.
The witness identified several victims listed in the report and said all the bodies examined showed evidence of gunshot injuries.
“Generally, all the bodies bore marks of gunshot injuries caused by bullets fired from firearms at varying distances, resulting in organ rupture, skeletal damage, massive bleeding and eventual death,” he said.
