Owo Church Massacre: 8th DSS Witness Testifies In Court In The Ongoing Trial

An eighth witness of the Department of State Services (DSS) in the ongoing trial of suspected attackers of the St.

Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, in 2022, on Wednesday corroborated the testimony of a 7th witness who identified one of the suspects as being part of those who carried out the attack.

The 8th witness also identified the 2nd defendant, Al Quasim Idris, as being part of those who allegedly killed the worshippers.

The witness, an Amotekun operative, told the Court in Abuja that he was one of the officers who arrived in the church premises shortly after the attack. He identified Al Quasim Idris as one of those who, shortly after the attack, exchanged gunfire at close range with him in a nearby bush.

Led in evidence by the prosecuting lawyer, Ayodeji Adedipe SAN, the eight prosecution witness gave details of how they trailed the suspect.

He added that they later came outside the church and learnt that the attackers were four in number and that they were the ones who zoomed off in a blue Nissan car as they were arriving.

The witness said that it was during an intense gun battle with the attackers in the bush that he sighted Al Quasim Idris. He, however, added that the assailants succeeded in killing the volunteer hunter but the Nissan vehicle was recovered.

Under cross-examination by defence lawyer, Abdullahi Mohammad, the witness said he could not remember how many of them brought out the hunter’s corpse from the bush neither did he know the owner of the vehicle.

At the conclusion of the cross-examination, Adedipe prayed the court to grant a three consecutive day adjournment to enable the prosecution to call its last set of witnesses and close its case.

This was not opposed by the defence lawyer, following which Justice Emeka Nwite adjourned till March 24, 25 and 26 for continuation of trial.