Owo church massacre: Detainee claims DSS agents warned they would toss him to crocodiles.

A dramatic revelation emerged at the Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday, as Al-Qasim Idris, a suspect in the 2022 St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church attack in Owo, Ondo State, testified that a Department of State Services officer had threatened to feed his body to crocodiles if he refused to confess to the crime.

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Idris told Justice Emeka Nwite that he and other suspects had endured maltreatment while in DSS custody, which had led to his hospitalization for three days due to the abuse, after which he was relocated to an underground cell.

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In the underground cell, Idris was questioned by a female DSS officer, who asked about his name, offense, and reason for arrest, to which he maintained his innocence, prompting the officer to accuse him of lying.

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The female officer allegedly warned Idris that if he did not confess, he would spend 50 years in detention, and his body would be fed to crocodiles if he died during that time, a claim that Idris vehemently denied, affirming his innocence and leaving his fate to God.

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Idris also recounted being forced by DSS operatives to respond to a written statement, answering "yes" to questions he knew and "I don't know" to others, which probed personal details such as his name, age, occupation, and family contacts.

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The officer further inquired about a contact saved as "Aunty" on his phone and instructed him to pray before returning him to the underground cell, highlighting the intense interrogation Idris faced.

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Additionally, Idris described being threatened by another male DSS officer, Segun Kayode, who claimed that orders had been given for him to be killed but was being offered "one chance" to tell the truth, which Idris denied, reiterating his innocence.

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Kayode allegedly told Idris that if he refused to cooperate, he would spend 50 years in detention, and since he was not married and had no children, he would have no one to advocate for him.

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Idris responded by stating that those who had spent years in detention must have committed offenses, but he was innocent and would not face the same fate, as he had done nothing wrong.

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Idris and two other defendants were later summoned together and questioned about the locations shown on their mobile phones during the attack, with Idris explaining that his SIM card indicated a nearby community, Omi-Alafia, but he was actually at his farm in Elegbeka with his father.

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Justice Emeka Nwite adjourned the matter until March 26 to continue the trial, leaving the fate of the suspects uncertain.