Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola on Thursday accused the dreaded Islamic State of West African Province ( ISWAP) militants for the attacks on St Francis Catholic Church, Owo in Ondo State which claimed over 40 lives.
Aregbesola who briefed State House Journalists alongside the Inspector General of Police, Alkali Baba, after the national security meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, said that the government “has seen the footprints of ISWAP in the attack”, adding that “government is on their trails”
It would be recalled that some unknown gunmen had on Sunday raided the St. Francis Catholic Church at Owo, Ondo state killing over 40 worshippers in the early hours of the morning.
The Minister, however declared that the security agencies were yet to arrest any of the perpetrators
“We need to let our people know this, because we know that what happened at Owo had neither ethnic nor religious motives”, he added.
He noted that the Owo attacks were consistent with ISWAP style in the North East, North West and North Central where we have pockets of bandits operating there.
“We are very close to getting the perpetrators, there are no ethnic agenda.
Aregbesola further called on various communities across the country to be vigilant adding that “we must mobilize ourselves to defeat their efforts to stoke ethnic violence and cause anarchy in the country.
“The Council understand the violent attacks in the Owo Church were perpetrated by the ISWAP and we are zeroing in on these people who are bent on using such attacks to bring attention and recognition to themselves.
“We have asked all the security agencies to go after them, identify and apprehend the attackers”.
On his part, the Inspector General of Police, Alkali Baba, said that security has been beefed up in Ekiti and Osun states, where governorship elections will hold soon with the deployment of 17,374 policemen, aside the military.
He disclosed the over 584 suspected criminals were arrested in connection with high profile cases, this year.
Also speaking on the kidnapped Abuja-Kaduna train victims, the IGP, stated that government was working on their release, adding that “we are still trying to get them released. There are positive indications that these people will be released”.
He stated that the Police was strengthening engagements and collaborations with the various communities as part of Community Policing Programme, adding that “ by next months we are graduating about 10,000 new set of Police personnel, which will be added to the current number to strengthen our operational capabilities”
Meanwhile, the Yoruba socio-cultural organization, the Oodua People’s Congress, OPC, has given South-West governors a week to summon a stakeholders’ summit on security in the region following Sunday’s heartless killing of over 40 worshippers at Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State.
Making the call on Thursday, OPC President, Otunba Wasiu Afolabi, described the Owo killings as a horrible, sacrilegious and provocative action, which showed the porous state of security in the South-West that must be urgently addressed.
OPC, also, condemned the resistance Northerners were putting up against the banning of Okada commercial motorcyclists in six local governments in Lagos State, and warned that nobody should give the law an ethnic coloration.
On the Okada matter, Afolabi said: “We fully support the enforcement of the rules issued by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Okada operations. Hausa people should acknowledge that the ban affects not only them, but other operators as well; and majority of those affected are the indigenous Yoruba people. Moreover, similar laws have been enacted in places like Kano and Abuja and the heavens did not fall.
“OPC will not tolerate the actions that have been taking place where Northerners confront the police and enforcement authorities, as happened in Mile 2-Festac and Idi-Araba axis. Southerners living in the North never confront authorities in the North over any law or regulation; and Northerners cannot come and dictate to our governments here in the South. Those who cannot comply with the rules of Lagos should go back home to their native states and countries.”
The group described the Owo massacre as a wake-up call.
“What happened in Owo demands a swift and appropriate response from the Yoruba people or we are all done for,” Afolabi said.
“To continue to carry on as if we are safe after such a huge tragedy is to live in a fool’s paradise. It is an invitation to annihilation. No one is safe. Who knows where next these evil people will strike and with what magnitude?”
The OPC president said the group had been expecting governors of Yoruba states to take the initiative to summon an emergency meeting of the Yoruba people, but was disappointed they had so far failed to do so.
“Our leaders appear confused over the incident; this should not be so,” said Afolabi, also known as Askari.
“We hereby give them a seven-day ultimatum to convene a summit on security aimed at urgently drawing up a roadmap to bring to justice the evil perpetrators of the Owo massacre and to prevent a recurrence. Yoruba land must be safe again. We are not a conquered territory to be pillaged and harassed by foreign elements, whoever their backers are.”
According to OPC, time had come for governors to put their security votes to good use.
The group’s president urged that the South-West governors should urgently extend invitations to Yoruba elders, self-determination groups and civil society groups like OPC, Agbekoya, Afenifere, hunters, professionals and blacksmiths.
He said that events had shown that whatever security measures the South-West currently had in place was ineffective and inadequate, including Amotekun that Afolabi said only received half-hearted support by some states.
Afolabi said: “Amotekun is a great initiative but it cannot work alone. South-West needs a multi-dimensional model of formal and informal security architecture to win back our land. Our intelligence and response machinery must be top-notch. OPC members are ready to contribute our quota to keeping our Fatherland safe again.”
