Owo church shooting: What does it mean to live in Owo?
NEWS DIGEST – If there was ever a theme that embodies the atmosphere in Owo, where church worshippers at St Francis Catholic Church lost their lives in a mass shooting on June 5, it would be “late to rise and early to bed.”
Although ironic because the church shooting happened in daylight, residents of the historic city in Ondo state say they feel much safer restricting work hours to daytime until there are visible guarantees that their lives and properties are safe.
According to them, the city has become shrouded in fear and become a shadow of its previous self.
To put things in context, when most businesses would normally close their stores later than 9 pm, they now call it a day as early as 5 PM. Famers are beginning to abandon their farms too. As a result, inflation is hitting harder than in most Ondo cities.
Residents agree on one cause: “Everyone is scared.”
Victims yet to receive compensation – Donaldus
Fifty-one days after the massacre, the state continues to wear a sullen look, particularly Donaldus, a tribesman of Owo, in his faded jeans and green vest. When the News Digest visited his residence in Owo, he struggled to speak, let alone audibly and his face was still soiled with pain from days of mourning.
Donaldus, a worshipper at a different branch of the St. Francis Catholic Church, had lost four close associates from the morning of the shooting. “I was [at the branch] on that faithful day only for me to hear the news of the death of my people.”
According to the bereaved Donaldus, the families of the victims have yet to receive any compensation to help them shoulder their losses. And to his displeasure, he noted the allotment of funds for a mass burial ceremony and the renovation of the church.
“The church environment has become a place of fear to the people as no one can pass through the place without the fear of the unknown,” he added.
Inflation of food items and low sales
Omole Felicia tells News Digest of a city-wide panic: people can barely dare to return to their normal routines because of fear of a second attack.
She said: “By 4 am, most people would have been awake and would be outside preparing for another busy day but after the incident, people don’t go out until 5 or 6 am.
“Even the sight of the church remains a pain to the people who remember the lost ones they have lost each time they pass through the area where the edifice is located.
“Anytime we are going to the market, we can’t pass the front of the church because it brings memories so we have to pass another place.
“Since then, market sales have been very low. The Igbos who sell their goods have left the town because of the incidence.”
Lamidi Abdulmutalib, a meat seller in the market close to the church, reports that residents are scared to come to the market because they are afraid they could be victims of another attack.
Miss Adunola, a fashion designer, describes how big of an impact the shooting has had on the fashion market.
“Ever since the incident, we have not had any customers There’s no place in Owo that there won’t be any party during the weekend but ever since the attack there’s nothing like parties.”
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Another fashion designer, Mrs Festus adds that “the shock is still there” and the population of residents in the community has “drastically decreased.”
While the security concern lingers, prices of food items continue to soar because of the lack of supply of farm produce from farmers who are scared to report to their farms.
“Plantain that’s been sold #100 is now #500 because only the courageous can go into the farm because they can be attacked by the Gambaris,” Mrs Aina Iyaife, a resident, said.
At the same time, residents do not frequent the market as they normally would, threatening sales recorded by traders at the market.
“We implore the Federal Government to do the needful to safeguard our lives,” she said.
We have restored calmness – State Police
Akin Ogunmola, a hair stylist in the community, recalls his experience of the June 5 attack which ISWAP now lays claim. Before then, ISWAP attacked a train headed for Kaduna from Abuja and has yet to release the persons they took hostage.
Akin said he was woken up from his sleep by the gunshots but had thought they were rounds from street thugs. Not until he heard the blast of dynamite and the screams did he realise that something big was happening.
“By the time the incident was concluded, many persons already lost their lives,” he said. “The ones that were rescued and taken to the hospital, we are uncertain about their survival.”
Inhabitants of the states were initially treated to a sense of justice when words filtered down to the city that the perpetrators of the attack had been arrested but that account was soon debunked.
The State Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Funmilayo Odunlami says calmness and sanity have been restored to the environment.
He told News Digest: “We are still putting structures in place to make sure nothing of such happens again and to make sure the perpetrators are brought to book.
“We can’t divulge any security issue to the public now though we are working something out.”
Compensation for victims will begin soon – State Commissioner for Information
The State Commissioner for Information, Bamidele Ademola-Olateju, adds that the state government is doing everything within its means to strengthen the security agencies to better anticipate, prevent and combat a recurrence of the attack.
According to her, fifty fitted patrol vehicles have already been donated by Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu to all the security agencies in the state to this effect.
The state government has also resumed recruitment into the state Amotekun Corps, a regional security outfit in the South West.
“All these point to the premium Arakunrin places on the dignity and sanctity of human lives,” she told the News Digest, stressing that the vehicles will provide the needed support for security agencies operating in the state.
Even as residents criticise the lack of compensation for victims of the shooting, Mrs Bamidele continues to ask for patience, saying the money donated will be given to the victims in stages.
“Not a kobo from the money collected is going to anyone or anything, but the victims,” says Mrs Bamidele.
Mrs Bamidele adds that Gov. Akeredolu’s office is working on constructing a fitting memorial for the victims. “A website is already launched in their memory [and] you can visit www.owomemorial.com.”
