How Owo Catholic Church assault was deliberate, executed – DSS witness 

A witness from the Division of State Companies (DSS) Tuesday instructed a Federal Excessive Courtroom how the June 5, 2022 terror assault on St Francis Catholic church in Owo, Ondo state was deliberate and executed.

The assault it will be recalled led to the loss of life of 41 individuals, whereas 140 others have been injured.

The witness who gave proof as prosecution witness quantity 9 with safety code SSI is a deputy director answerable for terrorism investigation and he led the DSS panel that investigated the lethal terror assault towards the church.

Led in proof by Ayodeji Adedipe, SAN, the witness claimed that upon receipt of knowledge on the terrorism assault, his group was detailed to unravel the perpetrators, the reason for the incident, their sponsors and some other findings.

He mentioned that upon gathering intelligence, the DSS operatives arrested 5 individuals in August 2022 in Kogi and Ondo states.

He named these arrested as Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Quasim Idris, Jemiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris, Momoh Otuho Abubakar.

The witness mentioned that preliminary investigation revealed that they’re members of Al-Shabab, an arm of the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAB), a terrorism organisation mentioned to have been outlawed.

Revealing how the assault was perfected, the witness instructed the court docket that the defendants, underneath the management of 1 Odoba held a gathering on thirtieth Could, 2022 at Authorities Secondary Faculty, Ogaminana, Kogi state, the place Odoba handed instruction to them to assault the Catholic Church in Owo, including that the instruction was clear to the impact that the assault needs to be carried out on Sunday and that the priest answerable for the court docket needs to be killed.