Owo massacre: In sorrow, fear grips Ondo residents

• Akeredolu honours victims, orders flags to fly at half mast
• Time for database, ICT to tackle insecurity

Two days after the dastardly massacre in Ondo State, there is yet to be an accurate number of people that were involved in the tragic incident, leaving much to be desired in the bid to tackle insecurity and serial killings across the nation.

It was Black Sunday in St Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Owo, headquarters of Owo Local Government Area on June 5, when unknown gunmen laid ambush in the church during mass, killing scores of worshippers in cold blood.

The sad news hit the global community with trembling and fear as the Catholic Church in Owaluwa, located behind the palace of Olowo of Owo, Oba Gbadegesin Ogunoye, was strewn with dead bodies, reeking of blood.

The assailants were said to have stormed the church in a grand commando style, shooting sporadically and threwing dynamites to kill both old and young, especially children, who had gone to worship their God.

This has generated tension and fear among over three million residents across the 18 local councils of the state as many people are yet to come out of the nightmare.

Many sympathisers described it as ‘Elegy in the churchyard’ as the murderers left sorrows, tears and blood; but more pathetic was the fact that none, even duty-bearers, could tell the accurate figure of people killed and wounded in the attack.

It would have degenerated to an ethnic crisis if not for the timely intervention of Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, a native of the ancient Owo town, who appealed to his kinsmen, mainly the youths, not to take laws into their hands.

People have started counting their losses as a young lady, among many of the bereaved, Laide Ajanaku, bemoaned the murder of her parents and vowed never to forgive the nation.

She said: “To my fellow parishioners who suffered a loss or two in this. I hope we can all find the fortitude to bear this loss. We were a community of well-meaning, harmless people. Our parents worked hard for this country. How can Nigeria take so much from us?”

A little girl, who had reportedly traveled from the United States to spend summer holiday with her grandma in Owo, was killed in the attack. While official death figures were still unkonwn, the public is permitted to peddle sketchy figures, using the church’s over 1,000 capacity auditorium, as basis to extrapolate.

No government agency, not even the police, can give exact number of children, women, male, young and old people involved in the attack. There have been series of conflicting reports about the numbers involved in the public space.

However, medical personnel from St Louis Catholic Hospital, Owo and Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Owo, where the living and the dead were rushed to for attention, revealed that there were 35 Dead on Arrival (DoA).

The President of Movement for the Survival of the Underprivileged (MOSUP), Mr Dappa Maharajah, who described the assault as demonic, lamented that the nation is stagnated and has veered off the radar of modernity.

Maharajah lamented that it was a shame for the “Giant of Africa and the most populous Black nation in the world to be battling with reliable database for over six decades after independence.

“This accounts a great deal for our under-development, poverty and other egregious crimes affecting us as a people. It is the sad story to tell about ourselves, of who we are, where we are and the shoddy future ahead of us.”

He noted that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and database are composite catalysts for solid development in any nation, urging government to invest heavily on ICT to tackle insecurity.

“If we continue like this, what is happening now is a child’s play and we won’t be able to get out of this mess; and by implication, more woes shall still befall this nation unchecked.

“Government should be intentional in the bid to tackle security challenges by investing in ICT and database. This will not only in proper planning but will also help our security architecture to be strong, reliable and efficient,” he said.

Meanwhile, The Guardian gathered that the assailants escaped along Ute Road in Owo, though not without a chase by local hunters. It was gathered that they abandoned their escape vehichle hurriedly due to a fault and dashed into the bush.

It was gathered that local hunters dashed into the bush in a hot pursuit, but they laid ambush for the unsuspecting hunters and engaged them in a gun duel, killing one of the local hunters.

People living in the area described the killer herdsmen as the notorious gang tormenting Owo/Elegbeka/Ifon and Benin axis, revealing that they have their camps in the bush.
They said the gang live on top one of the rocks.