A nurse has given emotional testimony before a Federal High Court in Abuja, describing how a terrorist attack on St Francis Catholic Church in Owo left her without both legs and her left eye.
The nurse, a former staff member of the Ondo State Hospital Management Board and the fourth prosecution witness, testified on Wednesday in the ongoing trial of suspects linked to the June 5, 2022 attack.
Identified as “SSD” for security reasons, the witness told Justice Emeka Nwite that the attack occurred during the Pentecost Sunday service. She said worshippers initially mistook gunshots outside the church for festive fireworks before the violence escalated.
As the shooting intensified, she said she ran to the altar and lay on the floor with other congregants. Moments later, a dynamite was thrown into the church, causing severe injuries.
“I realised I was still alive after the blast, but my legs were shattered and my eye was bleeding,” she told the court. “I could not speak or hear properly and had to wave my hands for help.”
She said she later lost her left eye while undergoing treatment and that both legs were amputated above the knees. After more than five months in hospital, she was discharged and now uses a wheelchair.
During the hearing, the court granted an application allowing the witness to demonstrate her injuries, after which she was wheeled forward to show her amputated limbs and damaged eye.
Under cross-examination, the witness said she could not identify the attackers or determine exactly what caused her eye injury, although she believed it was linked to the explosive blast that destroyed the altar area.
Her husband, testifying as the fifth prosecution witness, gave a detailed account of how gunmen forced their way into the church, shooting through windows and throwing explosives at worshippers attempting to escape.
He told the court that he searched desperately through bodies for his family members and later discovered that his wife was among those critically injured. He said he authorised the amputation of her legs at the hospital and that she now lives with permanent disabilities.
Justice Nwite adjourned the matter to February 10 and 11 for further hearing. The Department of State Services is prosecuting five suspects in connection with the attack, which reportedly claimed at least 41 lives.
