Akeredolu faulted FG’s claim as being hasty.
By Emma Ogbuehi
The claim by the Federal Government on Thursday that the deadly terror group, the Islamic State, West African Province (ISWAP), was responsible for last Sunday’s terror attack on St Francis Catholic Church, Owo, was offhandedly dismissed on Friday by the Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.
Akeredolu faulted the pronouncement as being hasty.
Recall that even without any arrests or conclusive forensic investigation and evidence, the Federal Government on Thursday blamed ISWAP for the attack that led to the death of about 38 persons.
Briefing State House correspondents at the end of Security Council meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari, the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, flanked by the Inspector General of Police, Alkali Baba Usman, said the Owo Catholic Church attack was perpetrated by international criminals.
Aregbesola, who said that no arrest has been made, further said that the security agencies had been directed to go after the perpetrators of the act and bring them to justice, adding that the security was now zeroing in on them.
He noted that the attack has neither ethnic nor religious connotation as he affirmed that ISWAP’s activities have nothing to do with real religion.
According to Aregbesola, the motive of ISWAP was to pitch Nigerians against each another and make it appear as ethno-religious war.
READ ALSO: Without any arrests, evidence, FG blames ISWAP for Ondo Catholic Church attack
But speaking on Friday during an interaction with a Swiss-based Christian human rights Organisation, Christian Solidarity International (CSI), the Ondo Governor, Akeredolu, said the Southwest region has been a peace haven before the attack.
According to him: “The statement is too hasty. I take their conclusion with a pinch of salt. ISWAP don’t hide their attacks. If they have done it, they would have owned up. We are yet to know their identity and our security people are still on their trail.
“We are helping the victims of the attack. Including those who lost their loved ones and those who are in the hospitals. We also have people who have offered the state government some assistance. Some people have donated to the Catholic Church.”
On State police, the Governor said: “A single police command cannot guarantee safety in this country. We must have state police now. Amotekun suffers a lot of limitation in getting all the equipment needed to fight these criminals.”
Akeredolu described the international community reactions to the killings in Owo as unprecedented.
