#OwoMassacre: Akeredolu Orders Flags To Fly At Half- Mast

Ondo state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu has ordered that all flags in the state be flown at half-mast following the attack on worshippers in Owo that left over 35 people dead.

OduNews reports that some gunmen opened fire on worshippers at the St Francis Catholic Church in Owo on Sunday.

Speaking via his official Twitter handle on Monday, Governor Akeredolu ordered that all the flags in the state be flown at half-mast for seven days.

The governor also noted that the assailants will be brought to book as the state will “will not be deterred in responding appropriately to this dastardly act.”

The tweet reads, “In honour of the victims of the unfortunate attack on worshippers at St. Francis Catholic Church, Owa-luwa Street, Owo, I hereby direct that all flags in Ondo State be flown at half-mast for seven days, starting from today, Monday, June 6, to Sunday, June 12, 2022.

“Those who unleashed this unprovoked terror attack on our people have tested our collective resolves. We will not be deterred in responding appropriately to this dastardly act.

In honour of the victims of the unfortunate attack on worshippers at St. Francis Catholic Church, Owa-luwa Street, Owo, I hereby direct that all flags in Ondo State be flown at half-mast for seven days, starting from today, Monday, June 6, to Sunday, June 12, 2022. pic.twitter.com/IyfrBKSmp0

— Arakunrin Akeredolu (@RotimiAkeredolu) June 6, 2022

Those killed in the Owo incident included family members, children, and pregnant women.

One of the priests at the church, Rev. Father Andrew Abayomi, who narrated how the church was attacked, said the gunmen also bombed the church.

Abayomi said: “We were about to round off service. I had even asked people to start leaving when we started hearing gunshots from different angles.

“We hid inside the church but some people had left when the attack happened. We locked ourselves in the church for 20 minutes. When we heard that they had left, we opened the church and rushed victims to the hospital.”

Vanguard however, gathered that the killers, four in number, arrived the church a few minutes before 11am in Volkswagen Golf vehicle which was parked at the entrance of the church.

The corpses were deposited at the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, the Catholic Hospital and private hospitals in the town.