Owo Church Attack: Church reopens for Easter service 10 months after

The St Francis Catholic Cathedral, Owo in Ondo State will reopen temporarily on Sunday for the Easter service, and this is coming ten months after a terror attack which led to death of at least 40 worshippers on June 5, 2022

Penpushing reports that Bishop of the Ondo Catholic Diocese, Bishop Jude Arogundade, made this known on Saturday, recalling that since the sad incident the church had been shut for security reasons and in honour of the dead worshippers

“Since the unfortunate incident that befell our members at the Saint Francis Cathedral in Owo on June 5 2022, the church has been closed down for security reasons and as a mark of respect for our fallen brothers and sisters’, he stated.

‘The church shall be opened again for Easter Sunday. The government of Ondo state is as well planning to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the massacre in honor of our fallen heroes’, Arogundade added

Penpushing further reports that, in his contributions, Perpetua Ezibo a member of the committee of the church on welfare of victims of the terror attack, said some of the injured victims are still groaning in pain.

‘At least 40 worshippers were killed and hundreds of others injured when gunmen invaded the church during the Sunday Mass. The terrorists hurled explosives and opened fire on the worshippers before escaping from the scene of the bloodbath. Many of the injured victims were taken to the Federal Medical Centre and St. Louis Hospital, both in Owo for treatment. But the police are yet to bring the terrorists to justice’, he noted.

Penpushing also reports that Ezibo, whose daughter was a victim of the attack, told our reporter that about five survivors are scheduled to undergo another round of surgery, expressing optimism that the daughter was still responding to treatment.

‘She is getting better but she is going for another surgery. You know she is a young girl. Aside from my daughter, the victims going for another surgery that I am aware of are about four. It is not the government that is sponsoring them, it is the Catholic Diocese of Ondo State that is sponsoring them,” she added.

Penpushing reports that the woman disclosed that some of the victims who have recovered from their injuries have resumed their normal business activities, but pointed out that many still feel the trauma of the incident.

‘Some have gone back to their normal businesses, some are still managing themselves while some still have fear in them. That is why we need to go back to that church. Some people may be afraid to come back to the church, as a human being that is normal,” she said.

Penpushing further reports that the catechist of the church, Jonathan Awolo, explained that the church is not reopening permanently yet because the reconstruction works which are still ongoing as at time of filing this report.

‘We are not opening finally because we are still building something there again concerning the event. It is just that the church wants to bless the place so that they will start mass there. It is not officially opening but we want to be having masses there. That is why the Bishop is coming to bless the place so that we will be able to start,” he said.

‘They have finished everything but the one they are building, the monument for the remembrance of those people, we are still building that one, it is not yet completed. Probably, the final opening will be by June,” he added.

‘I am not happy that for many months we have been traveling far to celebrate mass. It is not good enough. It is a thing of joy for people. We will be able to manage the place for mass till the final opening’.

‘I am personally happy because if we do not enter that church we cannot know that we are healed. Because as a health worker, I have seen accidents. It is like I am seeing it as a usual occurrence, it can happen at any time’.

Penpushing also reports that Awolo who was in church during the attack but narrowly escaped unhurt, said he was happy entering the church again, adding that if he has no opportunity to re-enter the church, the God that saved him, will seems to be a liar

‘I am happy entering the church again because if I do not enter, the God that saved me I am making Him (God) a liar. Definitely, I am going back to the church with my family”, the catechist of the church emphasized

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