Owo Church Attack Trial: Eighth DSS Witness Identifies Al Quasim Idris as Participant in 2022 Massacre
An eighth prosecution witness from the Department of State Services (DSS) on Wednesday corroborated earlier testimony identifying the second defendant, Al Quasim Idris, as one of the attackers involved in the 2022 massacre at St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.
Testifying before the Federal High Court in Abuja, the witness, an operative of the Ondo State Security Network Agency (Amotekun), confirmed the account earlier given by the seventh DSS witness, who had also identified Idris as one of the assailants during a gun battle that followed the attack.
Led in evidence by prosecuting counsel Ayodeji Adedipe (SAN), the witness, identified as PW8, told the court that he was among the first responders who arrived at the church shortly after the June 5, 2022 attack. He said he later encountered Al Quasim Idris during an exchange of gunfire in a nearby bush as security operatives pursued the fleeing attackers.
According to the witness, Amotekun operatives were initially on an anti-kidnapping mission when they received a distress call about the attack at St. Francis Church and were redirected to the scene.
“On getting to the church, we met a crowd and managed to enter the premises. We saw several dead bodies on the floor, both inside and around the church, including injured persons, women and children,” he told the court.
He said they were informed that four attackers had fled the scene in a blue Nissan vehicle and that the operatives immediately began a pursuit towards Ute Road. The chase ended when the suspects abandoned their vehicle and escaped into nearby bushland.
The witness told the court that during the ensuing gunfight, he sighted Al Quasim Idris among the attackers. He added that a volunteer hunter who joined the pursuit was killed during the exchange, and his body was later recovered by the operatives.
The witness further told the court that the abandoned Nissan vehicle was taken to the Amotekun office and later transferred to the state headquarters in Akure. He also confirmed under cross-examination that the owner of the vehicle later came forward to identify himself, although he was not part of the team that interviewed the owner.
The DSS is prosecuting five suspects — Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Quasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris and Momoh Otuho Abubakar — over the deadly church attack that claimed multiple lives in 2022.
At the end of proceedings, the prosecution applied for a three-day consecutive adjournment to call its final set of witnesses and close its case. The defence did not oppose the application, and Justice Emeka Nwite adjourned the matter to March 24, 25 and 26 for continuation of trial.
