Moving in deathly herds, the blood-thirsty squad invaded St Francis Church like a storm cloud split by snaky thunderbolts. They stabbed through the morning with a huge spear of mayhem and pumped hot bullets into the congregation while they were praying, killing over 50! Sad!
Honestly, It was meant to be a refuge for the seeking souls, a spiritual fortress for those who earnestly seek God’s face for protection, and a place where praise and worship is offered in appreciation of having a life to be thankful for. Until what has now been labelled as “The Owo Massacre”, never crossed anyone’s mind that such a sacred place of reverence would be desecrated with the blood of pious souls and innocent children.
It is so unfortunate that those who did not attend the church service have been praising God that they did not go to church while those who attended and escaped the carnage by whiskers are now filled with regrets as they narrate their experience in sordid and gory details.
The above scenario described what has become of the once peaceful town of Owo when pandemonium broke out at Saint Francis Catholic Church, Owa-luwa Street, Owo, Ondo State, as gunmen attacked the church on Sunday, leaving tears, sorrow and blood on its trail.
The Owo church attack had left the community perplexed as it has been gathered that not less than 50 people were killed by the marauding terrorists, including children and women while many were left fatally injured as calls for blood donations continue to ring loud.
The attack in Owo, the hometown of the state Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, came barely a week after the Prelate of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, Bishop Samuel Kanu-Uche, was kidnapped in Abia State by gunmen the priest later identified as Fulani youths.
The governor described the event as “vile and satanic” promising to go all out, fish out the perpetrators of this dastardly act and bring them to justice.
“A black Sunday in Owo. Our hearts are heavy. Our peace and tranquility have been attacked by the enemies of the people. This is a personal loss, an attack on our dear state. I have spoken to the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Ondo, Most Reverend Jude Arogundade, who is presently on his way to Owo. Similarly, I have had to cut short my party’s national assignment in Abuja and visit Owo immediately,” Akeredolu said.
It was learnt the gunmen, who attacked the Catholic church, arrived at the premises, which is less than 200 metres from the palace of the Olowo of Owo, at 12pm when the Sunday mass was being rounded off.
A 37-second video posted online showed some of the slain worshippers in a pool of blood.
This again brought the perennial question of insecurity in Nigeria to the fore. For almost a decade, Nigeria has been embroiled in insecurity that has sent thousands to early graves. One of the cardinal campaign points that brought President Muhammadu Buhari to power was security. Have we fared better seven years after he assumed power? Not many Nigerians would answer the question in the affirmative.
Eyewitnesses said they threw explosives into dorms as they sprayed the rooms with gunfire. Some of the church members who tried to escape through the windows landed right before the terrorists, who slit their throats. Save a few survivors.
The neck, fed to the armed bandit’s machete, is one of the most frightful imagery of modern Nigeria. It depicts the innate, outward torment of our souls and affirms our tongueless sadism.
Those who dare may speak meaning to pillage and its tongued violence; the killing of underage kids, men and women involves the torture of children and the supposed leaders of tomorrow.
What we have failed to acknowledge, however, is that, for a long while, Nigeria has lived through semblances of mirth, militarized peace, and stability.
Patriots who would normally, tenderly clasp and kiss peace and unity as a gentleman would a lady’s hand are frantically seeking to sever all that binds us together.
Yet no one must be singled out as the cause of our predicament. Together, we embarked on this Nigerian journey into savage nature, trading bromides of hope for caskets of peace. We cannot speak compassion to barbarism. Compassion isn’t speaking pity to pain either but healing with the pained and living it out.
Nigeria kindles nightmarish ardour. Our national motto: “Unity and Faith, Peace and Progress” shrivel like branches of the Iroko caught in a bushfire, while we careen at the helm to self-seeking oligarchs, aided by kindred spirits among the electorate.
The incumbent administration, like its predecessors, manifests like a coven of mythical orcs fanning our wildfire. But they see themselves as the proverbial foresters earnestly burning off our infested boughs. Sad!
