A witness for the Department of State Services (DSS) on Tuesday told the Federal High Court in Abuja how the June 5, 2022 terror attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, was allegedly planned and carried out, resulting in the deaths of 41 people and injuries to 140 others.
The witness who gave evidence as prosecution witness number nine with security code SSI is a Deputy Director in charge of Terrorism Investigation and led the DSS panel that investigated the deadly terror attack against the church.
Led in evidence by Ayodeji Adedipe, SAN, the witness claimed that upon receipt of information on the terrorism attack, his team was detailed to unravel the perpetrators, the cause of the incident, the sponsors and any other findings.
He said that upon gathering intelligence, the DSS operatives arrested five persons in August 2022 in Kogi and Ondo states.
He named those arrested as Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Quasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris and Momoh Otuho Abubakar.
The witness said, that preliminary investigation revealed that they are members of Al-Shabab, an arm of the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAB), a terrorism organization said to have been outlawed.
