I was going home, when they struck, it was like a war front — Survivor of Owo catholic church massacre speaks

There was pandemonium at Saint Francis Catholic Church, Owa-luwa Street, Owo,  the headquarters of the Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State as gunmen attacked the church on Sunday.

The attack on the church in Owo,  the hometown of the state Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, came barely a week after the Prelate of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, Bishop Samuel Kanu-Uche, was kidnapped in Abia State by gunmen the priest later identified as Fulani youths.

It was learnt the gunmen, who attacked the Catholic church, arrived at the premises, which is less than 200 metres from the palace of the Olowo of Owo, at 12pm when the Sunday mass was being rounded off.

One of the survivors, who identified herself as Mary Williams, in an interview with The PUNCH, said she narrowly escaped the attack.

Williams said she attended the service but was outside when the attackers arrived and started shooting sporadically,  killing many worshippers.

“The mass ended and I got out to be going home. I was beside the fence of the church when suddenly I heard those sporadic gunshots. Initially, I thought they were armed robbers trying to rob somebody but I later discovered that the heavy sounds of gunshots were inside the church.

“I jumped into a gutter where I hid. It was like we were on a war front the way the gunmen were shooting for about 15minutes. My legs were injured and  I was taken to the hospital and discharged.”

The officiating priest at the church, Reverend Father Andrew Abayomi, said the attackers stormed the church when the mass was almost ended.

Abayomi said, “We were about to round off the service. I had even asked people to start leaving when we started hearing gunshots from different angles.

“We hid inside the church, but some people had left when the attack happened. We locked ourselves in the church for 20 minutes. When we heard that they had left, we opened the church and rushed victims to hospitals.”

A nurse at St. Louis Hospital, Owo, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said many casualties were brought to the hospital.

She said, “A lot of casualties have been brought here, but I can count 12 now that have died. We are still trying to save the lives of the remaining.”

At the FMC Owo,  many people were seen crying as they did not know the fate of their relatives who were receiving treatment at the Emergency Department of the hospital.

A doctor at the FMC, on condition of anonymity, said 23 people were brought in dead, adding that 28 people were injured.

He said, “ As at the last count, 23 dead bodies were brought in while 28 sustained various degrees of injuries. Some with light injuries were treated and discharged immediately. That is the situation for now.”

At the St. Louis Catholic Hospital, scores of relatives were seen discussing the incident while some were weeping.