Top investigative journalist Fisayo Soyombo, after a series of eye witness interviews has just revealed that the attackers were on military camouflage.
Confirmation that the attackers of the Catholic Church in Owo were clad in military camouflage is very bad news — because that’s the M/O of the terrorists in the North-East.
Whether that be Boko Haram or ISWAP, clear meaning of yesterday’s gun raid is: terrorism is now firmly with us in the South-West.
WITNESS INTERVIEW: Gunshots, Military Camouflage… How Terrorist Attack on Catholic Church Happened
A Nigerian who was inside the St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, on Sunday has spoken about the horror of coming face-to-face with death, as well as the relief of watching his father escape death by the skin of his teeth after hiding inside the church’s confession box.The congregant, who asked not to be named for security reasons, also told FIJ about the appearance of the assailants, why so many children were killed, and whether or not there was a “bomb explosion” as initially reported.
He spoke with FIJ late on Sunday. Excerpts:
So, you were saying you were right inside the church when it happened?
We were right there: me, my mum and my dad. I think the mass started around 8:30am. On an ordinary Sunday, our mass doesn’t last beyond 2 hours and 30 minutes, and that’s on days when they have thanksgiving Sunday. But, today, being Pentecost Sunday, there were a lot of programmes in the church; that’s why the service extend till about 11:30am-12pm.
The priest who was presiding over the mass had already said his final blessings; the choir had started singing. All that was left was for him to come down from the altar and then proceed out of the church. It was when the choir started singing that we heard the first gunshot. That sounded like it came from outside the church. It was a very loud, banging sound. A lot of people looked back; it took us by surprise.
In a related development, a news interview from days ago shows Amotekun had received credible intelligence of a likely attack and had successfully intercepted one of the three shipments of dangerous weapons into the state. Unfortunately, the two other shipments escaped interception.
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