The National Security Council, on Thursday, disclosed that the Islamic State for West African Province masterminded the Sunday attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, which claimed 40 lives.
The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, disclosed this to State House correspondents after the council’s meeting presided over by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
But security experts, in separate interviews with The PUNCH, urged the Federal Government to up its game in tackling security challenges.
Aregbesola, who spoke in the company of the Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba, said security agencies are closing in on the perpetrators through their traces.
He said, “The council is quite concerned about the violent attack in Owo, Ondo State, and has been able to locate the perpetrators of that horrendous attack. From all indications, we are zeroing in on ISWAP, the Islamic State for West Africa. It is not an ethno-religious thing.
“The animals in ISWAP wanting attention, recognition, are suspected to have launched that attack. We have directed all the agencies concerned to go after them and bring them to justice.”
According to him, the council is concerned about spate of blasphemy-linked killings and has directed security agents to hunt those behind the killing of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto State and a more recent case in Abuja.
An expert, Timothy Avele, described the revelation as saddening, adding that the situation might get worse as many of the decision makers have their attention on the 2023 elections.
He said, “I remember mentioning Kwara, Kogi, Ondo, Oyo and Lagos as positive targets if security agencies and the military did not change strategy.
“I am afraid and saddened that it is happening. I don’t want to say it would get worse but prayer alone is not enough.”
Another security expert, Kabiru Adamu, advised security operatives and governors in the region to improve intelligence gathering to prevent further attacks on the region.
“Security operatives and governors in the region should improve on intelligence gathering which will enable them to identify their mode of operations, and what they are planning,” he said.
Meanwhile, the umbrella body for Yoruba self-determination groups, Ilana Omo Oodua Worldwide, said it has been vindicated by Aregbesola’s statement.
The group’s leader, Prof Banji Akintoye, in a statement issued by its spokesman, Maxwell Adeleye, urged the State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, to step up efforts towards ridding the state of criminals.
“The declaration of the Nigerian government that ISWAP was responsible for the Owo massacre is a vindication of our earlier position that Yorubaland has been encircled by foreign terrorists disguising as herdsmen,” the statement read in part.
Also, the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has called on Akeredolu to ensure that perpetrators of the attack are brought to book.
The group’s leader, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, made the call during a visit to the governor.
Adebanjo, who described Akeredolu as a true son of Yoruba race, said his “courage in establishing the Amotekun corps was typical of a true Yoruba man.”
Meanwhile, the Ondo State Police Command debunked media reports claiming that some gunmen attacked a Hausa community in Ondo town.
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