A Federal High Court has admitted additional exhibits in the trial of five men charged with allegedly masterminding the June 5, 2022 terror attack against the Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo town, Ondo State.
The additional exhibits were tendered by the prosecution counsel following the testimonies of two witnesses produced by the Department of State Security Service (DSS).
Justice Emeka Nwite of the Abuja division of the court admitted the exhibits in evidence against the defendants.
The attack which involved sporadic shooting and explosives against the church left 41 worshippers instantly dead and over 100 suffered various degrees of injuries, including amputations of legs.
The DSS in a nine-count amended charge, is currently prosecuting the five suspected terrorists.
They are Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza (25 years), Al Qasim Idris (20 years), Jamiu Abdulmalik (26 years), Abdulhaleem Idris (25 years) and Momoh Otuho Abubakar (47 years).
During the arraignment, the defendants pleaded not guilty to the 9-count charges.
At the resumption of trial on Tuesday – today, January 13, 2026 – the two witnesses code-named SSB and SSC emotionally narrated how the gunmen stormed the church, locked up the main entrance door and fired dozens of gunshots at the worshippers.
A lady witness code-named SSB, a student from Anambra State told Justice Emeka Nwite how the unknown gunmen forced their ways into the church, fired gunshots at the choir gallery, resulting in pandemonium in the church.
She said that a dynamite was placed on her head to blow her up for having the audacity to raise her head when one of the gunmen was talking but that she swiftly moved her body only for her left leg to be shattered by the heavy explosion of the dynamite.
Led in evidence by the DSS lawyer, Ayodeji Adedipe SAN, the female witness showed the damaged left leg to the court upon permission to do so.
The witness confirmed that the damaged leg was operated four times by medical experts before she could manage it to walk.
The SSC noted with sadness that iron was fixed in the leg to support it and that the iron had not been removed from the leg till date.
She said that her brother-cousin of two years was not so lucky during the attack as he was shot from the back of his head and died on the spot.
The second witness code-named SSB had earlier narrated the same story of the attack and how 40 worshippers were counted dead shortly after the gunmen left the scene of the attack.
He confirmed that the church was bombed three times with dynamite which resulted in serious damages to the building.
The two witnesses confirmed that they were invited by DSS at its Akure office where they volunteered their statements on May 26, 2024.
Meanwhile, the two extra judicial statements made by the two witnesses to DSS have been admitted as exhibits B and C by Justice Emeka Nwite following absence of objections
to their admission.
At the close of proceedings, counsel to DSS, Ayodeji Adedipe SAN said he intended to call seven more witnesses but that only two would testify on January 14.
The defendants were represented in court by their counsel, Abdullahi Auwal Mohammed.
A Catholic priest and one of the victims of the terrorist attacks code-named SSA for security reasons had on Thursday, December 11, 2025 testified for DSS as prosecution witness One (PW-1) in the trial.
Meanwhile, Justice Emeka Nwite has fixed January 14 for continuation of trial.
