More than two weeks aftermaths of Owo massacre, the Senior Special Assistant to President Mohammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, has described the episode as politically motivated.
He said the attack, where several worshippers of St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State lost their lives, was part of “planned and politically motivated criminal outrages,” vowing that the presidency would not allow itself to be distracted by such intrigues.
According to a statement by him, Garba Shehu argued that the attacks were designed to set various regions of the country against one another.
In the statement titled ‘Recent Spate of Church Attacks Unacceptable,’ he said: “From the tragedy in Owo two weeks ago that shook our nation to its core, to the killings and kidnappings just this weekend in Kaduna State, it is clear that there is a design by wicked people to put the country under religious stress.
“President Muhammadu Buhari believes that our religious freedom, our diversity, is what makes Nigeria great. It is this diversity that gives Nigeria its strength. That is why Nigeria’s enemies seek to destroy it, by putting us against one another.
“We will not let them. The nation will not be distracted or divided by these obviously planned and politically motivated criminal outrages. The perpetrators are cowards; weak and wicked men with guns murdering, in cold blood, unarmed women and children at their places of worship.
“As for the cowards, they will be punished for their crimes. We will bring them to justice. Rest assured that the full might of Nigeria’s formidable security and intelligence forces are involved in that endeavour.”
