A prosecution witness of the Department of State Services (DSS), identified by the code name SSD, has narrated before the Federal High Court in Abuja how she sustained life-altering injuries during the June 5, 2022, attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.
Appearing before Justice Emeka Nwite, the witness explained that the explosive detonated by the attackers destroyed both of her legs, necessitating amputations above the knees.
She further told the court that the blast also claimed her left eye, leaving her permanently blind on that side.
The witness, who is both a trained nurse and a housewife, stated that the incident has confined her to a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
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She emphasised that the injuries she suffered were irreversible consequences of the terrorist assault on the church.
While giving evidence in the terrorism trial involving five accused persons alleged to have coordinated the attack, she described how the assailants invaded the church, firing gunshots indiscriminately. In a bid to escape, she ran toward the choir gallery.
According to her testimony, the gallery was already overcrowded when the attackers hurled an explosive device, believed to be dynamite, into the area.
The blast caused extensive human casualties, with her own legs and eye bearing the brunt of the explosion.
Under examination by Ayodeji Adedipe, SAN, the lead prosecutor, the witness told the court that she remained hospitalised for five months following the incident.
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She added that the attack claimed the lives of 41 worshippers, while many others suffered varying levels of injury.
Following her testimony, the prosecution called its fifth witness, code-named SSE, who is also an eyewitness and the husband of the fourth prosecution witness.
The witness, a civil servant living in Owo, recounted how the attackers struck the church that day, killing 41 parishioners and injuring approximately 100 others.
He informed the court that, in addition to his wife’s loss of both legs and her left eye, his mother-in-law also sustained a knee injury during the attack.
He further disclosed that he personally consented to the medical procedure that led to the amputation of his wife’s legs.
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According to him, although the Ondo State Government initially promised to provide his wife with prosthetic limbs, the vendor failed to deliver functional artificial legs before the administration’s tenure ended.
He lamented that the current state government has not taken any steps to address her condition, despite repeated appeals to the Commissioner for Health.
At the conclusion of the testimonies, the court admitted the statements of both witnesses into evidence and adjourned the matter to February 10 and 11 for the continuation of the trial.
