The National Security Council has blamed the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) for the attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, on Sunday, June 5.
The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, stated this on Thursday, June 9 while briefing State House Correspondents after the National Security Council meeting in Abuja.
Aregbesola, who said that no arrest has been made, further revealed that the security agencies have been directed to go after the perpetrators of the act and bring them to justice.
He claimed that the attack was not motivated by ethnicity or religion, and that the group’s operations had nothing to do with religion.
According to Aregbesola, the motive of the terror group is believed to be to pit Nigerians against each other and make it appear as an ethno-religious war.
Reiterating that there was no ethnic agenda in the attack in Owo, Aregbesola urged Nigerians to unite and defeat the terrorists.
Meanwhile, President Buhari in a statement released on Sunday June 5 by his spokesperson Femi Adesina said “only fiends from the nether region could have conceived and carried out such a dastardly act.”
The statement read;
“President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the heinous killing of worshippers Sunday at the St Francis Catholic Church, Owa-luwa Street, Owo Kingdom, in Ondo state.
“The president says only fiends from the nether region could have conceived and carried out such a dastardly act, adding that eternal sorrow awaits them both on earth here, and ultimately in the hereafter.
“President Buhari mourns the dead, condoles with their families, the Catholic Church, and the Government of Ondo State, charging emergency agencies to swing into action, and bring succor to the wounded. No matter what, this country shall never give in to evil and wicked people, and darkness will never overcome light. Nigeria will eventually win.”
