The witness, a trained nurse and housewife, testified before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court during the ongoing trial of five men accused of masterminding the deadly attack.
A prosecution witness on Thursday gave a harrowing account of how an explosive device used during the June 5, 2022 terrorist attack on St Francis Catholic Xavier Church, Owo, Ondo State, shattered her two legs and blinded her left eye, leaving her permanently confined to a wheelchair.
The witness, a trained nurse and housewife, testified before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court during the ongoing trial of five men accused of masterminding the deadly attack.
She told the court that the impact of the explosion destroyed both her legs, which were later amputated above the knees, and also permanently damaged her left eye, according to The Nation.
Emotionally recounting the incident, the witness said her life had been irreversibly altered by the attack, as she would spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair.
The defendants standing trial are Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (25), Al Qasim Idris (20), Jamiu Abdulmalik (26), Abdulhaleem Idris (25) and Momoh Otuho Abubakar (47). They had pleaded not guilty to the nine-count terrorism charge during their arraignment last year.
Led in evidence by the prosecution counsel, Ayodeji Adedipe, SAN, the witness, who said she was an eyewitness to the attack, narrated how gunmen stormed the church during Sunday Mass and began shooting sporadically, forcing worshippers to flee in panic.
According to her, she ran to the choir gallery in a desperate bid to save her life, but due to the heavy crowd at the gallery, the attackers hurled an explosive device, suspected to be dynamite, into the area.
She told the court that the blast caused massive casualties, killing several worshippers instantly and leaving her with shattered legs and a damaged eye.
She said, “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. 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 followed until everything became calm and I realised that 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.
“If the court permits, I will remove it for the court to see. I also lost my two legs. The two legs were amputated above the knees.”
The witness said she spent five months in the hospital before she was discharged, adding that 41 members of the church were killed in the attack, while many others sustained varying degrees of injuries.
According to her, she has been using a wheelchair since she was discharged from the hospital.
Following her testimony, a Department of State Services (DSS) lawyer called another prosecution witness, code-named SSE, who identified himself as a civil servant residing in Owo and the husband of the fourth prosecution witness.
SSE also gave a graphic account of the attack, confirming that 41 parishioners were killed and about 100 others injured when terrorists struck the church.
He told the court that his wife, identified as SSD, lost both legs and her left eye to the explosion, while his mother sustained a knee injury during the chaos.
The witness further revealed that he personally signed the consent form for the amputation of his wife’s two legs at the hospital.
He added that although the Ondo State Government initially promised to provide his wife with artificial legs, the commitment was never fulfilled.
According to him, the vendor could not provide useful ones until the tenure of that government elapsed.
He said that repeated efforts to get assistance from the current Ondo State administration had yielded no results.
“The current Ondo State government is not doing anything about her again. Several times, I called the state Commissioner for Health, but they are not doing anything about it,” he told the court.
Justice Nwite admitted the statements of the two prosecution witnesses as exhibits and adjourned the matter till February 10 and 11 for the continuation of trial.