By Kola Adeyemi
Abuja – The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) said it has recovered a car believed to have been used by gunmen that attacked St Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, where no fewer than 35 worshippers were killed on Sunday.
“The assailants fled the scene using a Nissan Sunny car with Reg No. AKR 895 AG which was snatched from the owner, and escaped through Owo/Ute road.
“The vehicle has been recovered while the owner of the vehicle is currently assisting the Police in its investigations,” CSP Muyiwa Adeyemi,spokesman of the police said in a statement in Abuja in Monday.
He also stated that preliminary investigations into the Sunday terror attack on the worshippers have revealed that the gunmen were armed with arms and materials suspected to be explosives.
To this end, the statement said Police Investigators who were part of the First Responders deployed to the scene have also recovered pellets of expended AK-47 ammunition while the Explosive Ordnance Devices – Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear Explosives (EOD-CBRNE) unit confirmed the use of Explosives as fragments of the IEDs used were found and after thorough sweeping of the scene, three (3) unexploded IEDs were recovered at the scene of the incident.
However, the statement,
said that the attack was carried out by yet-to-be-identified gunmen at about 11.30am on Sunday 5th June, 2022.
“Further investigations revealed that some of the gunmen disguised as congregants, while other armed men who had positioned themselves around the church premises from different directions, fired into the church.
“The IGP Usman Alkali Baba has ordered full-scale investigations into the incident in order to bring to book , the perpetrators of the gruesome killing of the worshippers at the church.
“The IGP has further ordered the deployment of specialized operatives of the Police EOD-CBRNE, police experts, and other tactical units from the Force Headquarters for a comprehensive investigation, and for immediate interception of the villians,” Adejobi explained .
While condemning the brutal murder of innocent people, Baba condoled with the Ondo State government, family members, relatives, and friends of the victims who lost their lives in the unfortunate attack.
“He equally assures that the heartless killers of the harmless victims, particularly innocent children, would be made to face the full wrath of the law, while the Force will emplace strategies to forestall similar future occurrences,” Adejobi quoted the IGP as saying. (vitalnews)
