OWO (RVA News): An attack during a Pentecost Sunday Mass at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria left at least 50 people dead.
A video posted on Twitter showed graphic scenes of bodies and blood inside the church. Ondo State governor Arakunrin Akeredolu said that many children were among the dead.
The Vatican released a statement after Pope Francis learned of the attack.
“The pope learned of the attack on the church in Ondo, Nigeria, and the death of dozens of faithful, many children, during the celebration of Pentecost,” Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See press office, said in the June 5 statement.
“While the details of the incident are being clarified, Pope Francis prays for the victims and for the country, painfully affected in a moment of celebration, and entrusts both to the Lord, to send his Spirit to comfort them.”
Bishop Jude Ayodeji Arogundade of Diocese of Ondo issued a statement calling for people to “remain calm, be law-abiding and pray for peace and normalcy to return to our community, state, and country.”
The identity of the perpetrators remains unknown while the situation has left the community devastated
Father Ikwu
The statement, signed by Father Augustine Ikwu, head of the diocesan directorate of social communications, said, “The identity of the perpetrators remains unknown while the situation has left the community devastated,” adding, “However, for now, security agencies have been deployed to the community to relatively handle the situation. At this point in the history of our dear country Nigeria, we need God’s ultimate intervention to restore peace and tranquility.”
The statement went on: “Meanwhile, all the priests and bishop in the parish are safe and none was kidnapped as the social media has it. Nevertheless, let us continue to pray for them and the good people of Owo and the state at large.”
It said, “We turn to God to console the families of those whose lives were lost in this distressing incident, and we pray for the departed souls to rest in peace.”
A report from the BBC said that a doctor at a local hospital, quoted by the Reuters, said that “several worshippers were brought in dead” and that after visiting the church and hospital, state lawmaker, Ogunmolasuyi Oluwole, told the Associated Press that children were among the dead.
Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, condemned the “heinous” killing of worshipers in a statement issued on his behalf.
This only points to a failing state that has abdicated all its statutory responsibilities such that nonstate actors operate freely and with impunity
Archbishop Adewale Martins
“The president says only fiends from the nether region could have conceived and carried out such dastardly act, adding that eternal sorrow awaits them both on earth here, and ultimately in the hereafter,” the statement said.
“President Buhari mourns the dead, condoles with their families, the Catholic Church, and the Government of Ondo State, charging emergency agencies to swing into action, and bring succor to the wounded,” it said, adding, “No matter what, this country shall never give in to evil and wicked people, and darkness will never overcome light. Nigeria will eventually win.”
The BBC reported on June 6 that no one had yet claimed responsibility for the attack but that the country is facing worsening violence by armed groups although Ondo state has, until now, been relatively untouched.
It reported that on May 29, the Prelate of the Methodist Church in Nigeria, Reverend Samuel C. Kanu Uche, was abducted along with two other clerics in the southeast of the country and that he paid $240,000 [$1.8 million] to be freed with his companions.
On May 25, two Catholic priests of the Diocese of Sokoto in Katsina state were kidnapped. They have not been released.
Archbishop Alfred Adewale Martins of Lagos, lamented, “This only points to a failing state that has abdicated all its statutory responsibilities such that nonstate actors operate freely and with impunity,” CNS reported.
