Chairman, South West Governors’ Forum and Ondo State Governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, has warned bandits to steer clear of the South West as the Yoruba people of the region will not allow a repeat of the attack on St Francis Catholic Church, Owo where no fewer than 44 persons were gruesomely murdered in broad daylight and 87 badly injured.

The governor declared that the people of the South West will not tolerate another unprovoked attack on the region under any guise.

Governor Akeredolu said the people of Ondo and the South West region at large have always come to the country in peace and unity.

He spoke on Tuesday at the government house, Akure while receiving the governors of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun; Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Kwara State, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.

The governors were in the state to pay a condolence visit to Governor Akeredolu over the June 5, 2022 terror attack in Owo.

The former governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, also joined the entourage.

Governor Akeredolu, who described the Owo attack as gruesome, noted that the people of the South West region have always maintained peace and unity in the country.

He thanked the governors for their solidarity, describing their visit as not just symbolic but important.

“We are part of this country and we have always come to this country in peace and we have maintained peace. We have been trying every time to maintain Nigeria because we believe in Nigeria. Let someone point to an incident in which we left our enclave or we left this peaceful environment and went to cause problems in other places. Let them tell us. We have come to this country in peace and now people want to visit us with war. You want to maim and kill us; it is not easy.

“It is a dreadful assault. I said to people that if we were at war and we were armed and faced ourselves, in one day 40 people would not die from our side. But this is not war, we were not at war.

“This is an assault on us, on our psyche. We cannot continue this way. We believe in this place, we believe in the southwestern region, we believe in Yoruba. Is Yoruba part of Nigeria we believe in? Yes.

“But I thank you for your solidarity. You have come all the time and we have always worked together, all of us.

“If you get to the scene, I’m sure it will bring tears out of your eyes. These criminals, who are animals in human skin, what they did was horrendous. They did not come to kidnap, they did not come to steal; they took no dime. They went into the church and shot at everything within their sight,” the governor lamented.

Earlier, Ogun State Governor Prince Dapo Abiodun, who spoke on behalf of others, said the attack was not just on the good people of Owo and Ondo State but the entire people of the South West region.

The governors announced the donation of #25million each, totalling N75million for the victims of the attack.

The governors disclosed that the region would soon meet to take a position to further consolidate and improve security architecture in the zone.

“The news filtered in on the evening of the 5th and it came as a shock to all your brother governors across the length and breadth of this country, but in particular those of us that come from the South West zone. We find this attack, not just an attack on the good people of Owo, or the good people of Ondo State but the entire people of the South West zone.

“Of course, we have met and we have condemned this act which we find as most unfortunate. Your Excellency, this is an attack too many. We know that you have been at the vanguard of ensuring peace and security for your people. In fact, you are the champion of the Amotekun in the South West.

“We, your brothers, wonder if this is more personal because of the roles you have played in ensuring that our zone is secured. One wonders if there is a particular reason this attack was launched in your hometown of Owo.

“We are deeply pained, we are deeply saddened and we commiserate with you. We pray for the lives of the departed, we pray that the almighty God forgives their sins and accepts their souls. We commiserate with their families, we sympathize with those that are still in the hospitals,” Governor Abiodun said. (Daily Sun)

Update news