Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and the Federal Government continue to sing discordant tunes about who is culpable for the murder of worshipers in Owo.
In response to the murders, Akeredolu said it is dubious to attribute responsibility for the incident to the Islamic State’s West Africa Province (ISWAP), in an exclusive interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday, July 4.
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The Governor said;
I reacted to that almost immediately because I asked what evidence they have. It is important to let us know because the security agencies were too quick to jump to the conclusion that it was done by ISWAP.
But whatever it is, we stand by the position that it’s a trilogy that is operating in our forests and causing havoc. We just have Fulani herdsmen right in front, followed by these bandits, and again ISWAP; so, the three of them work together and they work separately.
At least 40 people were killed and numerous others were hurt when assailants opened fire on worshipers at St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, the administrative center of Ondo State’s Owo Local Government Area.
The June 5 incident was widely condemned, and many people and organizations urged the government to make sure the attackers were apprehended and prosecuted.
The Federal Government connected the killings to ISWAP amid dispute about who was to blame for the occurrence, a stance with which Governor Akeredolu disagreed.
The governor sees no distinction between the actions of killer herders, robbers, and ISWAP militants, and the terrorist organization has always been eager to take credit for attacks carried out by its members.
Akeredolu further stressed,
So, we are not people who will buy the idea that maybe it is ISWAP, or bandits, or Fulani herdsmen; we have faced terrorism in Ondo State from the three. So, I don’t know how you want to separate them except you have concrete evidence.
And our own contention is that ISWAP, most times if not all the time, takes responsibility for their action. When they do things, they say we have done it; they take pride in these heinous crimes.
I expect that if ISWAP had done this, all this while they would have come out and own up but some of us have our fears that it is not ISWAP and we do not agree with that position.
