South-West Governors Raise Questions Over Owo Attack
By Hakeem Gbadamosi – Akure
THREE state governors from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday visited Akure, the Ondo State capital, to commiserate with Governor Rotimi Akeredolu over the attack on the St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, wondering if the attack was targeted at the state over Akeredolu’s role on Amotekun.
The governors — Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, Dapo Abiodun of Ogun and Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara — announced the donation of N25 million each, totaling N75 million, for victims of the attack which they described as barbaric.
Speaking on behalf of the governors, Prince Abiodun said the attack was not just on the good people of Owo and Ondo State, but the entire people of the SouthWest region.
He specifically said that the attack was directed at the state and Akeredolu’s hometown over his role in championing and ensuring peace and security for the people of the state and region.
He said: “The news filtered in on the evening of June 5th, and it came as a shock to all your brother governors across the length and breadth of this country, but in particular, those of us who come from the SouthWest zone.
“We find this attack not just an attack on the good people of Owo, or the good people of Ondo State, but the entire people of the South-West zone.
“Of course, we have met and we have condemned this act, which we find as most unfortunate. Your Excellency, this is an attack too many.
“We know that you have been at the vanguard of ensuring peace and security for your people. In fact, you are the champion of the Amotekun in the SouthWest.
“We your brothers wonder if this is more personal because of the role you have played in ensuring that our zone is secure. One wonders if there is a particular reason this attack was launched in your hometown of Owo.
“We are deeply pained; we are deeply saddened and we commiserate with you. We pray for the lives of the departed; we pray that the Almighty God forgive their sins and accept their souls. We commiserate with their families and we sympathise with those who are still in hospitals.”
The governors disclosed that the region would soon meet to take a position to further consolidate and improve the security architecture in the zone.
“We have come this morning to commiserate with His Excellency and the good people of Owo and of course, Ondo State by extension, on behalf of our families and people and governments of Ogun, Kwara and Lagos states on the very dastardly event that happened on June 5, at the Catholic Church in Owo.”
Governor Akeredolu warned that the people of the South-West would not tolerate another unprovoked attack on the region under any guise.
He said the people of Ondo State and South-West region at large have always come to the country in peace and unity, describing the Owo attack as one too many.
He noted that the people of the region have always maintained peace and unity of the country and appreciated the governors for their solidarity, describing their visit as not just symbolic, but important.
“We are part of this country and we have always come to this country in peace and we have maintained peace. We have been trying every time to maintain Nigeria because we believe in Nigeria.
“Let someone point to an incident in which we left our enclave or we left this peaceful environment and went to cause problems in other places. “Let them tell us. We have come to this country in peace, and now people want to visit us with war. You want to maim and kill us; it is not easy.
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“It is a dreadful assault. I said to people that if we were at war and we were armed and faced ourselves, in one day, 40 people would not die from our side. But this is not war; we were not at war.
“This is an assault on us, on our psyche. We cannot continue this way. We believe in this place, we believe in the South-Western region, we believe in Yoruba. Is Yoruba part of Nigeria we believe in? Yes.
“But I thank you for your solidarity. You come all the time and we have always worked together, all of us.
“If you get to the scene, I’m sure it will bring tears out of your eyes. These criminals; these animals in human skin, what they did was horrendous.
“They did not come to kidnap, they did not come to steal, they took no kobo. They went into the church and shot at everything within their sight,” he lamented.
Also on the governors’ entourage was the chairman of APC, Abdulahi Adamu; National Secretary of APC, Senator Iyiola Omisore; the immediate past governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; among others.
Members of the Ondo State Executive Council, led by the Secretary to the State Government, Princess Oladunni Odu, also joined Akeredolu to receive the visitors.
