22 dead, 18 injured, seven treated in Owo Church attack — Ondo Govt

By Akintunde Jacobs, Akure

Banji Ajaka, the Commissioner for Health in Ondo State, has confirmed that a total of 22 worshippers have been confirmed dead in the Sunday brutal attack on St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo.

Recall that some suspected terrorists had stormed the Church, located in Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu’s hometown of Owo, and gunned down the parishioners.

Akeredolu had condemned the violent attack on the Catholic Church, describing it as a “vile and satanic attack” on innocent worshippers.

The Governor has also issued a marching order to the security agencies to fish out the assailants.

Ajaka, who spoke in an interview with journalists on Tuesday in Akure, confirmed the official casualties figure saying a total of eighty-eight worshippers were affected by the attack on the Church, which occurred during Mass on Sunday.

He said, “The total involved as of today (Tuesday) is 88. And the breakdown is this; out of the 88, we have confirmed 22 dead.

“So, there were about 7 people treated on an outpatient basis at St. Louis hospital. They were 18 on admission at the same hospital,” he added.

The official confirmation came less than twenty-four hours that the Police recovered unexploded IEDs, and pellets of expended AK-47 ammunition from the scene of the attack.

In several videos that had appeared on social media, from the scene of the attack, worshippers were lying in pools of blood.

As of the time of filing this report, the motive of the assailants is not yet known even though the police have launched an investigation into the attack.