The early Sunday morning attack on worshippers at St Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State is a test run for the impending launch of Fulani Jihad on Yoruba territories.
APAPO O’odua Koya (AOKOYA) said it did not trust police and won’t be surprised if Igbo and Yoruba are arrested to create diversion in a country where millions are either too uneducated to think deeply or guided by personal political interests than public good.
In a statement on Sunday, APAPO O’odua Koya (AOKOYA) said the choice of Owo, the historic Yoruba town, was a deliberate assault on Yoruba heritage given the place of Owo in Yoruba history.
“The most important political party in modern Yoruba history, the Action Group, (AG) was launched in Owo in 1948 with Chief Obafemi Awolowo in attendance. Owo is the birthplace of Chief Adekunle Ajasin who succeeded Awolowo. Owo was the city where free education was launched in Yorubaland in 1952. Owo is also the home of the first Governor of Ondo (Ekiti) State, Ajasin and the ancestral home of Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu, the Chairman of South West Governor’s Forum and pioneer promoter of Amotekun.
“The attack came on the eve of the June 12 Anniversary. We are left in no doubt that the attack on Owo is an attack on Yoruba civilization and a declaration of Fulani Jihad in Yorubaland”, the statement signed by the group’s Head of Operations, Col Abimbola Sowunmi (rtd), said.
AOKOYA said Owo played a crucial role in the defeat of Fulani by the Yoruba in 1840, adding that Owo was the town where some of the weapons used during the war were manufactured.
“We are aware this is the beginning of the Fulani Jihad. By attacking Owo, the Fulani is targeting Ondo port from where they hope to access the Lagos sea port. This is a grand strategy aimed at encircling Yoruba Nation. Only wise and experienced people will understand what is going on”, AOKOYA said.
The Pan Yoruba group said thousands of Fulani armed men have seized a large swath of land between Government Reserve located in Ile-Ife and Benin. The forest extends to Kogi State where terrorists have established a strong hold with robberies and the use of IEDs taking place. Very soon, the entire area will be fully taken over by the terrorists.”
The groups said over 3,000 terrorists already use the forest as their camp in Yorubaland.
AOKOYA said the security threat was above what South West State Governors can handle while the Federal Government cannot be trusted given the support the terrorists enjoy today from highly-placed people in Government.
‘Our future is in our own hands. The Fulanisation of Nigeria was first raised by former President Olusegun Obasanjo but no one took him serious. The latest attack confirms the fears of much right -thinking people that war is already on the door steps of your people. We chose peace but they have brought war upon us. We have the option to be enslaved or fight for freedom,” Sowunmi said.
The group said it was aware of pressure on some security operatives to cover up the motive behind the massacre of over more than 80 people in Owo on Sunday. It warned that the security operatives should be aware locals are in possession of facts ready to counter any false narrative from the Nigerian security operatives.
“There is a conscious attempt to cover up tracks and submerge the motive of the attack. We urge security operatives to be honest and to carry out their activities without introducing political flavor in an attempt to satisfy political interests with vested party affiliation
“The Fulani have fired the first shot against Yoruba Nation. The whole world should know who to hold responsible in the face of escalated hostility and outbreak of war”, AOKOYA stated.
The group described the Fulani as an ethnic group committed to the continuation of the 1804 Jihad, saying that the dream has been fueled by the current leadership of Nigeria in Abuja.
Responding to the killing of more than 20 worshippers, including women and children, at the St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo on Sunday, Osai Ojigho, Amnesty International’s Nigeria Director, said:
“What happened in Owo reveals the impunity enjoyed by gunmen on the rampage across Nigeria. This tragic event should offer a wake-up call for the authorities, who must now do everything they can to ensure the perpetrators of this appalling crime face justice.
“This brutal attack shows a complete disregard for the right to life. Under international human rights law, Nigeria has a duty to protect the right to life of its people in all circumstances.
“Victims and their families have a right to know the truth about this shooting and to be provided with justice and reparations. Amnesty International is calling on the Nigerian judicial authorities to immediately launch a thorough and impartial investigation to identify the perpetrators of this crime, and to prosecute and judge them in fair trials, without recourse to the death penalty.”
On 5 June 2022, gunmen entered the St. Francis Church in southwest Nigeria at around noon as Sunday mass was ending. They shot at worshippers and detonated dynamite, killing at least 20 and critically injuring many others.
Residents told Amnesty International that the attack lasted about 15 minutes, during which time there was no immediate response from security forces. This attack comes almost two months after at least eight people were killed on a train from Abuja to Kaduna.
Also, Global Rights condemns in strong terms the vicious massacre of scores of worshippers at the St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo in Ondo state during a church service on the 5 th of June, 2022. The killing of innocent worshippers in cold blood during a religious event is a sad reminder of the realities to the government of Nigeria to ensure the security and welfare of all Nigerians as mandated by Section 14(2)(b) of the Nigerian Constitution. We condole with the people of Ondo state, in particular, residents of the affected community in Owo, and the Catholic Church at large.
The South-West of Nigeria had till this despicable carnage had relatively been spared the intolerable level of insecurity suffered by other regions of the country. This brazen attempt to unsettle the amity of the region should therefore be greeted with strong resistance by both the Federal Government and State governments of the South-West region to forestall further deterioration of security in the region.
We note with displeasure the body language of the political class, especially the President, who within hours of the attack, feted his party leadership to a pre-primaries dinner party at the Presidential Villa. The dinner party which was attended by the Vice President, the Senate President, the leadership of the ruling APC, and other presidential aspirants of the party was a sheer display of insensitivity and further underscored the notion that Nigerian lives are cheap and the unfortunate event did not warrant sobriety and attention.
We are appalled by the continued upsurge in mass atrocities across the country in recent times. These continued acts of terrorism are an affront to the territorial integrity of the Nigerian state and a threat to its national security and must therefore not be allowed to spread any further.
We therefore call on the Nigerian government to fulfil its constitutional responsibility of protecting the security and welfare of all citizens through the implementation of a more robust approach to curbing terrorism across the country. The government must take deliberate action in addressing the immediate and remote circumstances that are exacerbating terrorism and other forms of mass atrocities across the country.
Finally, we call upon all Nigerians to remain vigilant and rise to our call to collectively resist this abnormal situation that is becoming a norm in Nigeria and demand accountability from the government knowing that no one is safe till everyone is safe.
Meanwhile, Taraba state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), has condemned in totality the attacked on the Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo state that claimed many lives.
Rev. Isaiah Jirapye the state Chairman of the association while speaking to our correspondent in Jalingo, described the attack as barbaric, evil and ungodly in the eyes of citizens who believe in unity and progress of the country.
He called on the federal government to not just condemn the attack, but to ensure the perpetrators are brought to book.
The CAN Chairman while while commending the Ondo state government for her Swift visit to the church and commiseration to the families, urged Christian to be vigilant since the recent attacks are being targeted at them.
“It’s quite unfortunate that Nigeria is going down the drain, it is barbaric on the innocent people who converge to worship and the killers decided to take arms against them.
“In Nigeria we only hear of investigation till another incident come to override the been investigated one.
“I want the federal government to not just investigate the Ondo attack but to clampdown on the perpetrators.
“I want to call on the Christian to rise and defend themselves against this act. The recent bomb attacks in Taraba and now the attack on the church in Ondo is a prove that the Christian are being targeted toward annihilation.
“I want the federal government to rise against the brewing religious crisis in the country, the Christian are peace loving people but if they are frequently push, Nigeria would see a day that no one wishes”. The CAN Chairman lamented.
On his part, Chairman TEKAN/ECWA Block and Leader, Southern Conference of United Methodist Church UMC, Rev. Micah Dopah condemned the act.
“I strongly condemned the Babaric, satanic, demonic callous and ungodly killings of our brothers and sisters in catholic church in Ondo State,
“I call on president Muhammadu Buhari to fear God and do the needful by protecting innocent Nigerians from reckless and unwanted bombings and killings – he said.
Nigeria Christian Graduate Fellowship(NCGF) has condemned the attack on St Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, and called on President Muhammad Buhari to end the carnage.
The group stated this on Monday, in Benin, Edo State capital, during a press conference, on the state of the nation.
President of NCGF, Prof Chuka Eboka, in his presentation, said the “fellowship like many other Nigerians, were again shocked and traumatized, yesterday, by the news of the wanton killings in the Church. Dead bodies of men and women, boys and girls were carried out of St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo in Ondo State like butchered cows from the slaughter House.
The fellowship also criticized the recent killing of Miss Deborah Samuel, who was stoned to death and lynched by her classmates, at the Shehu Shagari College of Education (SSCOE), Sokoto.
“For how long should we live with this carnage!! This has happened over and over again, with lives of Nigerians being at the mercy of Boko Haram, killer herdsmen and the so-called bandits.”
According to him, this has happened over and over again, with lives of Nigerians being at the mercy of Boko Haram, killer herdsmen and the so-called bandits.
“We are grieved that there no longer exists any safe place in our country today. Nigerians cannot go to church to worship and feel safe; they cannot travel by road and by train in safety. Innocent lives are being wasted every day.”
“We call on President Buhari to urgently arrest this headlong descent into anarchy. We refuse to believe that our Military is unable to effectively rein in those who are terrorizing our people. Enough is enough.”
Harping on the need for stability and security ahead of the 2023 presidential elections, Prof Eboka said “in the last few years, notable Nigerians, distinguished scholars, corporate chieftains, Afenifere, Ohaneze, the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), the Middle Belt Forum, the Northern Elders Forum, Nigerian Christian Elders Forum, several other regional groups, the media, faith-based organizations as well as the International Community, have expressed great concern over the fragility and precariousness of the state of affairs in our nation.”
According to him, the dominant view for many of these groups is the urgency for constitutional review, in order to enable the nation experience a rebirth, through some form of restructuring or a referendum. Other resonant calls are for resource control, fiscal federalism as well as self-determination.”
“A secure and equitable environment should, therefore, be provided urgently for free and fair elections to be conducted. Right now, free and fair elections to produce credible leadership is not likely given the present circumstances in the nation,” he stressed.
