Police in Ondo State have dismissed rumours that the suspected terrorists responsible for the attack on the Owo Catholic Church have been caught.
On Thursday evening, rumours circulated that the perpetrators of the terror attack had been apprehended by a joint team of the Nigerian Army, Amotekun Corps, and other security officers.
During a church service on June 5, terrorists attacked St. Francis Catholic Church, Owaluwa Street, Owo.
Forty of the 127 people in the church were killed, leaving 87 survivors, 61 of whom are now in hospitals and 26 of whom have already been discharged.
The perpetrators of the terror assault had been apprehended, according to a viral video that went viral on the internet.
Residents of Owo town reportedly surrounded the palace of the Olowo, Oba Ajibade Ogunoye, to corroborate the news of the suspects’ alleged arrest on Thursday evening.
Oba Ogunoye, who spoke to the audience in Owo dialect, said he had just heard the news as the inhabitants had heard it and urged them to be calm.
The information was simply a gossip, according to a source within Olowo’s palace who did not want his identity mentioned.
“It was only a rumour. Youths besieged the palace in their thousands when the rumour broke out, but it was discovered to be a false alarm.
“Kabiyesi was only trying to hail their doggedness as he told them that, ‘I heard the rumour like you too’, admonishing them to be patient to authenticate it.
“But it was later discovered that the story was about a group arrested along Owo/Benin boundary in possession of dangerous weapon,” the source told newsmen.
In an interview with the press, SP Funmilayo Odunlami, the Ondo State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), rejected the rumour, stating she couldn’t confirm the assailants’ arrest.
https://res.cloudinary.com/danny-tech/image/upload/v1654842827/owo_church_xzfhzz.webp
“I can not confirm anything like that. There is no story like that in the state,” the PPRO told InsightnaijaTV Newsmen.
Also, a source from the Nigerian Army’s 32 Artillery Brigade in Akure, who did not want his name used, stated categorically that the culprits of the Owo attack had not been apprehended.
According to him, security agents exclusively detain persons who are caught with Indian hemp.
“It is a rumour, those arrested are those engaged in Indian hemp business. They are about three or so, they were arrested somewhere around Owo forest,” the source told NAN.
