JUST IN: ISWAP Behind Owo Church Attack – FG

Federal government of Nigeria said the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP) orchestrated the Owo attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, Southwest Nigeria.

Gatekeepers News reports that Rauf Aregbesola, Minister of Interior disclosed this while briefing state house correspondents at the end of the National Security Council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday.

Aregbesola who briefed alongside Alkali Baba Usman, the Inspector-General of Police, said the police has been ordered to go after the perpetrators of the act and bring them to justice.

The Minister, while noting that the imprint of ISWAP has been found on the scene of the attack, added that they will be brought to justice.

He further stated that ISWAP’s aim was to use the attack to divide Nigerians and create an impression of an ethnoreligious war.

Gatekeepers News earlier reported that Gunmen attacked the church on Sunday, June 5, killing many worshippers and leaving several other injured.

According to reports, the gunmen detonated explosives in the church before opening fire on the congregation.

At least 40 people died in the attack while over 60 victims were still hospitalised.

Meanwhile, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State, Southwest had described the attack as an “attempt to test the will of the people of the state and indeed, the south-west”.

“At Owo, the anger was palpable. The tension was at an abrasive level just as the urge for reprisals was high,” he said.

“Without doubt too, the ripple impact of this heinous act, as well as the understandably angry reaction across the state, could not have been different.

“To me, this is an attempt to test the will of the people of the state and indeed, the south-west.”