The St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, has reopened for services on Easter Sunday, ten months after a deadly attack left over 40 worshipper’s dead and several others injured
Over 40 worshippers died in the June 5, 2022 attack by gunmen.
However, worshippers who defied fears to attend Easter Sunday service, expressed pleasure for the reopening of the church.
Bishop Jude Arogundade the Catholic Bishop of Ondo Diocese addressing the congregants lamented the growing level of insecurity in the country.
During the attack, the assailants disguised themselves as worshippers, maiming both old and young worshippers.
But ten months after the incident, worshippers filled the building to celebrate the 2023 Easter.
The Bishop said, “The government of this country has failed us in their duty for the protection of lives and properties,” he said, lamenting how quickly the country moves on following attacks.
“The government must wake up and show strength and courage and make sure those who carried out the evil that took place in this church and those carrying out the evils that are going on in this country are brought to book and are punished accordingly,” the cleric added.
Speaking on the reopening of the church, Mrs Jumoke Oyekorode, who lost her mother in the attack, said that the vacuum left by her mother was yet to be filled.
Oyekorode added that it was a good thing for her mother to have died in the church, and thanked God for the reopening of the church.
Also, Margaret Ata, a survivor of the attack said that she was happy to be back in the church, though as an amputee.
Ata, who lost her an eye and two legs as a result of injuries sustained in the attack, stated that two of her children were on scholarship.
