Ayo Adebanjo, who is the Leader of the Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has made revealations that the attack at St Francis Catholic Church, Owo in Ondo State could have been averted if the right security personnel have been put in place.
Adebanjo said the attack could have been averted if the Amotekun Corps were allowed to carry weapons.
He stated this while leading a delegation of Afenifere to commiserate with the Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu and the people of the State over the Owo carnage and was contained in a statement by the organization’s National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi.
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Adebanjo said if the “Ondo State Government was in total control of the State’s security, the terrorists’ planned attack would have been detected before the dastardly act was carried out.”
The Afenifere leader reiterated the call for the “immediate establishment of State Police,” adding that the Amotekun should be allowed to carry weapons.
According to Adebanjo, Nigerians in the “Southwest would be better protected if Amotokun personnel were allowed to bear arms.”
He said: “They wanted to lure us out and use it as an excuse to unleash terror on our land.”
Africa Today News, New York recalls that no fewer than 40 persons out of the 127 involved in the attack were killed, leaving 61 survivors currently on admission in different hospitals and 26 already discharged.
The Federal Government, yesterday, identified the Islamic State, West African Province (ISWAP) as being responsible for the attack at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State that led to death of about 40 persons last Sunday.
Briefing newsmen at the end of the National Security Council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja, Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, said security agencies were already on the trail of the culprits.
While noting that their imprints have been ascertained in the attack, he, however, said the authorities have so far made no arrests.
Aregbesola, joined by the Inspector General of Police, Alkali Baba Usman, dispelled insinuations of ethnic-religious connection in the attack, affirming that the group’s activity has nothing to do with Islam. He also said there was no ethnic agenda in the attack, urging Nigerians to unite and defeat terrorism in the country.
The minister added that the Council expressed concern about killings in the name of blasphemy and consequently directed security agencies to go after perpetrators of the separate incidents in Sokoto State and Abuja recently.