Owo Church Attack Trial: Priest Recalls Terror of the 2022 Massacre
By: Abudu Olalekan
A brave Catholic priest testifies in the Owo church attack trial, describing the horrific moment gunmen opened fire on worshippers during a 2022 service.
The atmosphere in the Federal High Court in Abuja was heavy on Thursday. You could almost feel the tension. A Catholic priest stood there, but nobody could see him. He was testifying behind a protective screen. They called him “SSA” for security reasons. Why? Because the men he was testifying against are accused of something truly monstrous. This was the start of the trial for five suspects linked to the St. Francis Catholic Church massacre in Owo.
It happened back in June 2022. Specifically, Pentecost Sunday. The priest told the court how the service was just about to end. Everyone was feeling peaceful. Then, the world exploded. “We suddenly heard a loud noise… then gunshots,” he said. It wasn’t just a few shots. It was sporadic. It was loud. It was terrifying.
Reportersroom gathered that the priest was right there in the middle of it. He saw the chaos first hand. At first, he thought maybe someone had just fainted. You know how it is in a crowded church. But then he saw two parishioners running. They were trying to lock the main doors. An elder ran up to him, gasping. “The church is under attack!” at that point, everything changed.
The priest had a choice. He could run and save himself. But he didn’t. He looked at the children. “I wanted to run, but the children were there. I could not leave them,” he told the court. That is real courage. He and some other adults grabbed as many kids as they could. They shoved them into a small restroom near the sanctuary. Imagine that. A tiny bathroom filled with terrified children while guns are going off outside.
While they were hiding, they heard the bombs. Three of them. The last one was so close it felt like the floor was giving way. The priest said it felt like the “ground opening to swallow us.” When the noise finally stopped, some members came to tell them the killers had left. But the nightmare wasn’t over.
When he stepped out, the scene was like a movie. But a bad one. Bodies were everywhere. Blood was on the floor. He saw his choir master. The man had been shot right in the chest. He asked the priest for a final prayer. The priest prayed, but he also tried to save him. He started screaming for anyone who could drive to help. They needed to get people to the hospital fast.
He personally drove victims to the Federal Medical Centre in Owo twice. By the time he got back the second time, it was too much. The wailing. The crying. The blood. He said he couldn’t even drive anymore because he was so shaken.
The five defendants—Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza, Al Qasim Idris, Jamiu Abdulmalik, Abdulhaleem Idris, and Momoh Otuho Abubakar—just sat there. Most of them are quite young. They are facing a nine-count charge. But they all said they are not guilty.
During the cross-examination, the lawyers asked if he saw their faces. The priest was honest. He didn’t see anyone. He said it’s like that proverb—if a car hits you, you don’t stay behind to check the plate number. You just try to survive. He was too busy saving children to look at the gunmen.
The trial is going to take a while. Justice Emeka Nwite has moved the next hearing to January 13 and 14, 2026. For now, the families of the 40 people who died are still waiting for justice. It’s a long road. But at least the story is finally being told in court. Nigeria won’t forget Owo. We can’t afford to.
