The Christian Association of Nigeria’s leadership (CAN) has chided the killing of worshipers at St Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.
Hoodlums suspected to be Fulani herdsmen on Sunday raided and killed over 50 worshipers, leaving many others with gunshot injuries.
CAN, reacting in a statement issued by Pastor Adebayo Oladeji, media assistant to the CAN President, His Eminence, Rev Dr. Samson Ayokunle, condemned the incident.
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It said:
“The leadership of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has condemned the unprovoked attacks and killing of several innocent worshippers at the St Francis Catholic Church, Owa-luwa Street, Owo, and called on the security agencies to apprehend the perpetrators of the dastardly criminality.
This is sad, wrong, condemnable, outrageous, unacceptable, and satanic. There is no explanation for this unprovoked attack and assault on a place of worship. This is raw persecution. These people are possessed, and demonic and are not working for the good of the country. May God descend heavily on them and fight them mindless agents of Satan from their roots in Jesus’ name.”
Thus, it called for a total overhauling of the security and asked President Muhammadu Buhari to stop the recycling of criminals and terrorists in the name of de-radicalising programme.
It again said:
“If the programme is not counterproductive, how come the criminalities are always on the increase and nowhere is safe again?
This menace of insecurity has gotten out of hands and is embarrassingly sore. Criminals are operating with impunity all over the country and unfortunately, our government appears to be so busy with the 2023 general election that it has no time for the unending killings in the country.
What legacy is the government and those who are the managers of our security architecture leaving behind for the unborn generation? We are praying for the government and the security agencies to get it right before it will be too late.
If the Federal government is not interested in the State Police, what efforts are being put in place to arrest this unpleasant situation? We call on the state governors to meet with the President to find a lasting solution to these killings. Issuing mere press statements of condemnations and what looks like empty threats is apparently not a way out of it.”
CAN also sympathised with the families of the victims, the Catholic Church and the government, and the people of Ondo State over the incident.
