It’s Difficult Not To Read Political Meaning To Owo Massacre , Says Afenifere

The pan Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has described the attack on a Catholic Church in Owo as a terrorism act against the south western part of Nigeria bordering on a declaration of war!

The body then called on all the six governors in the South West of Nigeria to declare three solid days of mourning for the victims of Owo carnage.

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Afenifere in a statement issued on Sunday by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, Afenifere said it’s very difficult not to read political meanings to the attack which reportedly claimed scores of lives a d left many injured.

The Afenifere spokesman said it was possible that the gunmen had carried out the attack on Governor Rotimi Akeredolu’s hometown because of his stance on southern Presidency, restructuring and other national issues.

The group said apart from the massacre in Owo, there were reports that two people were killed and 10 were abducted by terrorists in Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State the same day.

The statement read, “The attack with sophisticated weapons where people gathered to worship is one of the most heinous acts that could ever be committed especially since we are not in a state of war. Going by the extent of the damage and the systematic way that the massacre-like action was carried out, it was clear that the act was planned far ahead with the seeming imprimatur of trained gunmen.

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“While hosting the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, during his two-day official visit to Nigeria on May 3, 2022, President Muhammadu Buhari hinted that through the myriad security ‘strategies’ of his government, at least 37,000 Boko Haram fighters have been encouraged to surrender and had been rehabilitated for eventual reintegration.

“Between that time and now, the acts of terrorism that have taken place in different parts of the country seem to suggest that many of those that government ‘rehabilitated and reintegrated’ got strengthened somehow and returned to join groups carrying out more dastardly acts.

“Much as we tried to resist the temptation, it is a bit difficult not to read some political meanings to the carnage in Owo. It is on record for instance, that Governor Akeredolu is in the frontline of the vanguard insisting that Presidency must come to the Southern part of the country come 2023. And from all indications, this agitation is about to bear fruit.

“He, Akeredolu, is also uncompromising in his refusal to let herders and bandits take over Ondo State, or any part of Yorubaland from the indigenes. The timing and contour of the attack made it difficult not to argue that the Owo carnage was more than ordinary.

” Nigerians and well-meaning people across the world are wondering why the government and security agencies that could hunt such individuals like Gana, the Tivman in Benue, arrest Nnamdi Kanu, and invade Sunday Igboho’s house with fatal consequence have found it difficult to tame those making life miserable for Nigerians and those trying to take over indigenous lands by force.”

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