By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Terrorists linked to June 5 shooting of worshippers at Saint Francis Catholic Church in Owo, South West Nigeria have been arrested at a joint operation of security forces.
The operations coming two months later involved a combined team of the Armed Forces, the Department of Security Services (DSS) and the police.
Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Leo Irabor disclosed this on Tuesday during an interaction with executives and editors of media organisations in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
No fewer than 40 congregants were killed when the gunmen stormed the church, shooting sporadically and detonating explosives as the worshippers scampered for safety.
A local security organisation, Amotekun Corps in Ondo State had earlier arrested some suspects in connection with the killings.
At a press briefing on the breakthrough on June 23, the state Commander of Amotekun, Adetunji Adeleye, expressed assurance that all the attackers of the worship center would be apprehended and made to face the law. Number of terrorists arrested were not disclosed.
“As regards the Owo incident, we have recovered the last vehicle they used for that operation and we made some arrests and we have also recovered some vital things which we are working on,” he said.
“A number of people have been arrested concerning the Owo issue as well as a well number of equipment. On that day, we pursued them to the point that we recovered the vehicle and we are still pursuing them We have told you that until we get to the root, I can assure you that the perpetrators and their sponsors will be brought to book.”
