Owo church attack: DSS witness identifies alleged gunman; autopsy confirms gunshot deaths

Another prosecution witness from the Department of State Services (DSS) on Tuesday identified one of the defendants in the June 5, 2022 attack on St Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, as one of the gunmen, as the prosecution tendered an autopsy report confirming victims died from gunshot wounds.

Testifying before the Federal High Court in Abuja, the seventh prosecution witness (PW7), identified as “SSG” and an Assistant Commander with the Ondo Security Network (Amotekun), said he exchanged gunfire at close range with the attackers and could clearly recognise the second defendant, Al Qasim Idris.

Led in evidence by prosecuting counsel, Ayodeji Adedipe (SAN), the witness said he was deployed to the church after being alerted by his commander. On arrival, he met “blood everywhere and corpses of men, women and children,” adding that he saw about 35 bodies.

SSG told the court that the attackers fled in a blue Nissan Sunny with registration number AKR/895/AG towards Ute Road. He said his team pursued them to Ijegunman village, where the suspects abandoned the vehicle and ran into the bush.

According to him, the four attackers, armed with AK-47 rifles, opened fire on his team. He said one of them shot and killed a hunter working with Amotekun during the exchange.

“I saw the man who killed the hunter at close range and I can identify him,” SSG said.

With the court’s permission, the witness moved close to the dock and pointed at Al Qasim Idris as the gunman. He repeated the identification under cross-examination by defence counsel, Abdullahi Mohammad.

The witness explained that he could not arrest the suspect at the scene because the man was armed with an AK-47, which was more powerful than his pump-action rifle, and he feared the others might still be nearby.

SSG also identified photographs he took of the recovered vehicle with his Samsung Galaxy A12 phone. The pictures were admitted in evidence, alongside his report, which he said was later forwarded to Amotekun headquarters.

Earlier, the sixth prosecution witness (PW6), a pathologist identified as “SSF”, tendered a certified true copy of the autopsy report on victims of the attack.

He told the court that all the bodies examined showed gunshot injuries.

“Generally, the bodies bore marks of gunshot wounds from firearms fired at varying distances, causing organ rupture, skeletal damage, massive bleeding and eventual death,” the witness said.

The post Owo church attack: DSS witness identifies alleged gunman; autopsy confirms gunshot deaths appeared first on Vanguard News.