Echoes of the Owo Massacre: Survivors Recount Terror in Federal Court

The sterile environment of a Federal High Court in Abuja became a theater of raw, unfiltered grief on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, as the first set of survivors from the 2022 Owo church massacre took the stand. For the first time, those who escaped the carnage at St. Francis’ Catholic Church in Ondo State faced their alleged tormentors, delivering harrowing eyewitness accounts of the June 5 attack. The testimonies provided a granular look at the sheer brutality of the assault, which claimed 41 lives and left over a hundred congregants with life-altering injuries.

One of the most poignant moments in the courtroom came from a witness identified only as “SSC,” whose identity was shielded behind a protective screen for security reasons. With a voice that occasionally trembled, she described the moment the sanctity of the Pentecost Sunday service was shattered by sporadic gunfire. She recalled the paralysis of fear that gripped the congregation, noting that an elderly woman sitting directly beside her was executed in the opening minutes of the assault. Amidst the screams, she was pulled toward the altar for cover by a member of the church choir, hoping the holy site would offer sanctuary.

However, the altar offered no protection. The witness recounted a chilling encounter with one of the attackers who approached her as she lay prostrate. She described the man questioning her before deliberately dropping a stick of dynamite near her head, warning her that she deserved to die for “looking at him.” In a desperate, split-second instinct to survive, she attempted to shift her body away from the explosive. The device detonated, mangling her left leg. In a move that silenced the courtroom, the survivor stepped out of the witness box to show the judge the extensive scarring and permanent damage left by multiple surgeries and skin grafts.

The tragedy for “SSC” was not merely physical; she revealed that the attack also claimed the life of her two-year-old cousin. The toddler, she testified, was shot in the back of the head while the family attempted to seek safety. Her account painted a picture of a calculated, cold-blooded execution of civilians, regardless of age or gender. The witness remained firm as she identified the chaos as an organized act of terror, alleging that the attackers showed no mercy even as victims pleaded for their lives.

Following her testimony, an elderly retiree identified as “SSB” took the stand to recount his own dramatic escape through a church window. He described the initial sounds of gunfire outside the compound which the congregation initially mistook for firecrackers. The realization of the danger only hit when the “Men of Order and Discipline” tried to bar the church doors, only to have the attackers blast their way inside. He described the “pandemonium” that followed as gunmen moved through the aisles, firing indiscriminately at those hiding under pews.

“SSB” provided a crucial piece of evidence by identifying one of the defendants in the dock as the first gunman to enter the sanctuary. He recalled seeing a man carrying a bag—allegedly filled with more explosives—conducting a final inspection of the pews to ensure maximum damage before signaling to the rest of the cell that it was time to withdraw. The witness described returning to the church the following day, only to find a scene he could only compare to a slaughterhouse, with the floor covered in blood and the walls pockmarked by shrapnel and high-velocity rounds.

The five defendants, alleged members of an extremist cell, sat in the dock as the survivors’ words filled the room. The prosecution is working to link the men directly to the planning and execution of the Owo massacre, an event that remains one of the darkest days in Nigeria’s recent history. These testimonies represent a significant step in a trial that has faced numerous delays, offering the victims a platform to document the atrocities for the judicial record.

As the court adjourned, the atmosphere remained heavy with the weight of the survivors’ experiences. For the people of Owo and the wider Nigerian public, the trial is more than a legal proceeding; it is a quest for closure in a case that exposed the nation’s vulnerability to domestic terrorism. The court is expected to hear from more witnesses in the coming days, including medical experts and forensic investigators, as the quest for justice for the 41 souls lost at St. Francis’ continues.