By TAIYE AGBAJE

A witness of the Department of State Services (DSS) in the case against four suspected terrorists behind the June 5, 2022 attack on St. Francs Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, on Tuesday, identified one of the defendants as part of the actual attackers.

The witness, who said he is a member of the Ondo Security Network, tagged, “Amotekun,” told a Federal High Court in Abuja that he was able to identify the 2nd defendant, Al Qasim Idris, because they had an exchange of gun fire at close range.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that this is the second time since the trial opened that a prosecution witness would be identifying some of the defendants as the attackers.

The 2nd prosecution witness (PW-2), identified as “SSB”, who said he is a member of the church and was in church when the attack occurred, had, while testifying, on Jan. 13, identified Al Qasim Idris (2nd defendant) and Abdulhaleem Idris (4th defendant) as those he saw among the attackers.

NAN reports that the DSS is prosecuting Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (25 years), Al Qasim Idris 20 years), Jamiu Abdulmalik (26 years), Abdulhaleem Idris (25 years) and Momoh Otuho Abubakar (47 years) on alleged terrorism offences involving the June 5, 2022 attack on the church.

Led in evidence by prosecuting lawyer, Ayodeji Adedipe, SAN, the PW-7, identified as “SSG” for security reasons, told the court that he was informed of the attack by his state’s commander who ordered him and his team to move to the church.

The witness said on getting to the church, he saw blood everywhere and corpses of children, men and women on the floor, including the church hall.

He said he saw about 35 corpses.

The PW-7 said himself and members of his team were told that the attackers just left the church on a Nissan Sunny car and went towards a particular direction.

“We learnt the attackers moved towards Achievers University at Ute Road. I pursued them with my men on our patrol vehicle.

“When we got to Ijegunman Village, and immediately they saw us, they ran into the bush. They are four in number.

“As they ran into the bush, they left the vehicle by the side of the road in Ijegunman, Ute. I searched the vehicle, saw a pack of pure water.

“The colour of the vehicle is blue with registration number: AKR/895/AG. So, I sent two of my men to drive the vehicle to Amotekun office in Owo,” he said.

SSG told the court that himself and a hunter who worked with his team went after the fleeing attackers in the bush and, at a point ran into them where they were hiding.

The witness said the attackers, who had an AK47 rifle each, began shooting at them, and that he also responded with his Pump Action gun.

He said during the exchange of gun fire, three of the attackers ran deeper into the bush, leaving one who hid behind a tree and aimed at him with his AK47 rifle, but succeeded in killing the hunter who was behind him (the witness).

The witness said he saw the man, who shot and killed the hunter, at a close range and could identify him, although the incident happened about four years ago.

At that point, Adedipe applied to the court to allow the witness to move closer to the dock, where the defendants stood, to identify the man who shot and killed the hunter, an application the defence lawyer, Abdullahi Mohammad, did not oppose.

With the permission of the judge, the witness stepped off the witness box and moved closer to the dock where he pointed at the 2nd defendant (Al Qasim Idris 20 years),

The witness said on the second day, which was June 6, 2022, he took pictures of the recovered vehicle before transferring it to the Amotekun’s state headquarters.

SSG said he used his phone, a Samsung Galaxy A12, to take the picture of the vehicle.

He identified the photographs when shown by the prosecuting lawyer, following which the pictures were tendered and admitted in evidence.

The witness said he later transferred both his report and the vehicle to the state’s headquarters of Amotekun.

Under cross-examination by Mohammad, the witness who was asked to reconfirm the person he actually saw, went closer to the dock again and still pointed at the 2nd defendant.

When asked why he could not arrest the 2nd defendant who was alone with him when the other three went deeper into the bush, the witness said he could not because the man was holding an AK47 rifle, which is more powerful than his own Pump Action rifle.

The witness, who said he is an Assistant Commander in Amotekun, said he was also not sure if the other three were hiding somewhere to later come after him.

The PW-7 said the 2nd defendant was later arrested as a result of the collaborative efforts of all the security agencies in Ondo State.

On the current whereabouts of the recovered car, he said it is in his headquarters where he handed it over to his boss and that it is only his boss that can answer the question as to whether they investigated to ascertain the actual owners of the vehicle.

Earlier, the 6th prosecution witness (PW-6), who was identified as “SSF,” described himself as a pathologist, who conducted autopsy on the corpses of victims of the church attack.

A certified true copy (CTC) of the autopsy was tendered by the prosecution and admitted in evidence without objection from the defence.

The witness was asked to identify some names of corpses reflected on the autopsy report.

He identified Dr Ajanaku John Adesina, listed on page 11 of 35 as body number nine; John Bosede, listed as body number 17 on page 18 of 35; Onileke Ester Ilerioluwa, listed as body number 13 on page 14 of 35 and Onuoha Deborah, listed as body number 4 on page 29 of 35.

On what was the cause of deaths, the witness said: “Generally, all the bodies bore the marks of gunshot injuries, arising from bullets from fire arms that would have been fired from varying distances from the bodies and causing organ ruptures and skeletal damages that would cause massive bleeding and exsanguination so that they died.” (NAN)

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