OWO: Akeredolu rejects FG claims, identifies trilogy responsible for church attack

Ondo Governor Rotimi Akeredolu has faulted the federal government conclusion on the June 5 attack on Catholic Church in Owo.

Following the gun and IED attack that saw 40 worshippers dead, the federal government said ISWAP was responsible.

But Akeredolu insisted the conclusion was hasty.

“I take their conclusion with a pinch of salt. ISWAP doesn’t hide its attack. If they have done it, they would have owned up. We are yet to know their identity and our security people are still on their trail,” he said on a Channels Television programme on Monday.

“I reacted to that almost immediately because I asked what evidence they have, the governor. It is important to let us know because the security agencies were too quick to jump to the conclusion that it was done by ISWAP.

“But whatever it is, we stand by the position that it’s a trilogy that is operating in our forests and causing havoc. We just have herdsmen right in front, followed by these bandits, and again ISWAP; so, the three of them work together and they work separately.”

As far as intent goes, any of the three could have been responsible. Threat analysis by security experts, however, factors in capabilities, too.

Herders, mostly armed, have not been using IEDs in their attacks. Nor are they ambulatory—as in using a get-away vehicle which the Ondo Amotekun claimed it recovered.