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.”