Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has revisited the tragedy that occurred in Owo about two weeks ago.
Gunmen had stormed St Frances Catholic Church in the Ondo State town and shot many, leading to the death of some 40 innocent people.
Speaking during a security meeting in Ibadan on Thursday, Makinde expressed shock that the attackers could operate for as long as 20 minutes without being stopped by security forces.
He said, “I went to Owo in Ondo where a Catholic church was attacked. I looked at the location of the church itself and I saw that it is inside the community, which shows that if they (security agencies) had rapid reaction, they would have caught those people responsible for the attack.
“I wondered how they were able to shoot people for like 20 minutes and still escape even on the bad road. I really feel we should not say that such an occurrence is far removed from us.
“I felt we should interact again on a wider scale so that we can discuss a few things that we can be proactive about. This is the second time we are having a meeting like this, and we will be using this opportunity to discuss the challenges we are faced with,” he said.
“I think our traditional and religious leaders also need to keep emphasising the security number 615 that can be called when they are in distress. And for us, we will keep logs of calls we are receiving and deal with them. We must pause to find out what has happened and then get the report across.
“I must sincerely say that this is the time we have to be vigilant. A church has been attacked in Kaduna, people have been kidnapped.”
