- SDP blasts APC government for nation’s insecurity;
- Calls for communal protective bodies nationwide, says killings amount to declaration of war by bandits
- Veteran journalists express shock, ask Buhari to resign
- Mimiko condemns attack, calls for urgent action
By Banji Ayoola
Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu on Monday directed that flags should be flown at half-mast in all public buildings, facilities and official residences for seven days in honour of the victims of the Owo terror attack on Sunday.
A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Richard Olatunde in Akure, the state capital, declaring the seven-day mourning, quoted the Governor as saying: “In honour of the victims of this unfortunate attack, I hereby direct that all flags be flown at half-mast for seven days, starting from Monday to June 12.
“It is a collective loss to the people of our dear state.
“The attack on innocent worshipers at the St Francis Catholic Church, Owa-luwa Street,Owo is a deliberate and calculated assault on the people of the state. Those who unleashed this unprovoked terror attack on our people have tested our collective resolve.
“We will not be deterred in responding appropriately to this dastardly act.”
Also on Monday, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the state called on various communities across the country to set up protective bodies for the purpose of protecting lives and properties in their areas.
In a statement issued in Akure, and signed by its state spokesman, Mr Remi Olayiwola, following the mass killing of innocent worshipers at the Catholic Church in Owo on Sunday, the party said that “the failure of the APC government in securing the lives and property of Nigerian citizens for many years has necessitated communal security networks.”
According to the statement: “SDP is saying that the immediate solution to the rampant security breaches across the country is the setting up of powerful outfits at the state and local government levels that would protect the people.”
Describing the killings in Owo as a war by bandits against God and humanity, the SDP recalled numerous calls by various well-intentioned organisations and individuals on the Federal government to set up machinery towards restructuring of the country but which were rejected by the Muhammadu Buhari’s APC government.
The party said: “‘The deafness and utter disdain towards good reasoning for many years by Major General Muhammadu Buhari is fast turning Nigeria into a failed state.
“The SDP sends its condolences to the families of all the worshipers killed as well as wishing those that sustained injuries in the attack quick recovery.”
Calling on the Federal Government to redeploy security personnel to their various states, “the SDP wonders why indigenes of the northern states could be posted to the south and vice versa when majority of those being deployed to States other than theirs have neither ever been there until their postings.”
Reacting to the incident, the League of Veteran Journalists in the state expressed shock over the killing of innocent worshipers at the St Francis Catholic Church Owo on Sunday, and asked President Buhari to resign.
In a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Chief Yemi Adewetan in Akure, the elder journalists described the killings as “yet another step capable of adding more weight to agitations for the separation of the country.”
It asked: “How can some bandits think that the next target of their dastardly acts be innocent people who went to pray to their God in the house of their Creator!”
The statement asked “President Muhammad Buhari to throw in the towel without further delay.”
It said: “While sending a message of sympathy and condolences to the families of those killed in the attack, we calle on security agencies across the country to move out and apprehend the perpetrators in a matter of hours.
“The fact that Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has been unrelenting in his fight against bandits that have been waging war on the people cannot be ruled out as a factor that made the perpetrators launched this severe attack on the state and on his people at Owo.”
Also, the immediate former Governor of the state, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, condemned the gunmen attack on the unarmed worshipers.
In a statement by John Paul Akinduro, his Special Assistant on Media and Digital Communications, he said “the Owo massacre is a condemnable act and it assaults our humanity and bludgeons our sensibilities.”
The former governor also called on the state government to take “immediate action to mobilize all available healthcare assets to Owo and if need be call for assistance from neighbouring States so as to be able to save as many as possible of those who were wounded in the attack”.
He also called on the government to apprehend and bring the perpetrators of the dastardly act to immediate justice.
Mimiko commiserated with the families of the victims, the Olowo of Owo, Oba Gbadegesin Ogunoye and people of Owo Kingdom, the Catholic Diocese of Ondo and the state government, he said: “We stand with the government and people of Ondo State. We stand in solidarity with the Olowo and the people of Owo, the Catholic Diocese of Ondo and condemn this satanic attack in its entirety.
“I have placed a call through to Kabiyesi to commiserate with him and the good people of Owo kingdom on the huge loss recorded from the attack. I have also contacted the State government to express my condolences and solidarity in the face of this unimaginable terror attack.”
Mimiko also called on every resident to be alert and, vigilant so as to nip any illegality and repeat attack in the bud.
