A suspect in the ongoing trial of suspects linked to the 2022 St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church attack in Owo, Ondo State, told the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday that a Department of State Services officer threatened to feed his body to crocodiles if he did not confess to involvement in the massacre.

The suspect, Al-Qasim Idris, testified before Justice Emeka Nwite that he and other suspects were subjected to maltreatment while in DSS custody.

He said that after being hospitalised for three days due to the abuse, he was moved to an underground cell, where a female DSS officer questioned him about his alleged involvement.

“After the three days, they took us from the hospital to an underground cell. Two days later, I was called out to meet a lady DSS officer. She said she was the one in charge of my case, but she didn’t give her name.

“She asked for my name, and I told her. She asked me what my offense was and why I was arrested. I told her I didn’t do anything. She said I was lying and not telling her the truth. I told her I was saying the truth, I didn’t do anything, and I was innocent,” Idris told the court.

The suspect said the female officer accused him of lying about his innocence and warned that if he didn’t confess,

“I would spend 50 years there, and my people won’t know, and if I die in the course of my detention, they will give my dead body to crocodiles to feed on because they had one.”

Idris said he responded by asserting his innocence and leaving his fate to God.

He further told the court that DSS operatives forced him to answer questions on a written statement, instructing him to respond “yes” to answers he knew and “I don’t know” to others.

The officer reportedly probed personal details, including his name, age, occupation, parents’ names, and family contacts. Idris said she also questioned him about the identity of a contact saved as “Aunty” on his phone, later instructing him to pray before returning him to the underground cell.

Idris also described being threatened by another male DSS officer, whom he identified as Segun Kayode, who told him that orders had been given for him to be killed but that he was being given “one chance” to tell the truth.

“He told me he had seen my case file, and they were ordered to go and kill me, but he wanted to give me this one chance. ‘Who knows, you may decide to tell us the truth’. I asked him who ordered him to kill me, because I know I didn’t do anything.

“He said if I refuse to tell him the truth, that it seems I want to spend 50 years in this place, and he knows I am not married, and I’ve not had a child. ‘Let me tell you, there are those who have spent that number of years here.’

“I responded that whoever has spent that number of years here knows the offense he has committed. As for me, I won’t be that long here, because I did nothing,” the witness narrated to the court.

He further stated that he and two other defendants were later summoned together and questioned about the locations shown on their mobile phones during the attack.

He explained that although his SIM card indicated a nearby community, Omi-Alafia, he and his father were at their farm in Elegbeka, which was within walking distance, accounting for the discrepancy.

Justice Nwite adjourned the matter till March 26 to continue the trial. (The PUNCH)

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