The Catechist of Saint Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, Jonatus Awolo has disclosed that miscreants took advantage of the attack on the church and killing of scores of worshippers to steal after the gunmen had escaped from the scene.
Penpushing reports that, Awolo who escaped during the attack in his narration said the miscreants stormed the church removing valuables from the victims and stealing money from the offering box, after the gunmen operations which lasted for over 30 minutes.
The church catechist, recalled that the shooting from the attackers started when worshippers were marking the Feast of Pentecost, adding that the thugs suspected to be members of the community thereafter invaded the church, searched the bodies of the dead and went away with their belongings.
“Some people came inside the church after the perpetrators left. It was some area boys in the street because after I escaped the gunshot, I came back again to check the situation of things after the perpetrators left. When I got back, I saw some people inside the sacristy, some boys were inside the sacristy, some of them were searching everywhere”, he said
“Even when the box of the collection of money was scattered on the floor, people were just picking money. The money is not what I am talking about, I am talking about the dead that are on the ground. People were picking items from the victims, even my phone was also missing, I cannot find my phone and the charger till this moment.
“They were stealing money, phones, and purse of dead victims. I caught one of them, I wanted to arrest him but I just left him there. Imagine. There are many people that are bad-hearted than those perpetrators. Stealing from dead bodies”, Awolo said
Penpushing further reports that, it is recalled that, gunmen on Sunday morning stormed the church and opened fire on the congregation, having earlier detonated explosives which forced the worshippers scampered for safety.
The lawmaker representing Owo Constituency I, who visited the scene shortly after the attack, Oluwole Ogunmolasuyi said at least 70 people were killed and injured, while police said the gunmen arrived the church at about 11.30 a.m.
Penpushing also reports that, the statement by the police said preliminary showed that the gunmen earlier used explosives before sporadic shooting sporadically, and four of them short directly into the church
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the assailants approached the church during the service, started shooting from outside the church while others numbering about four shot directly into the church,” police statement said.
Penpushing reports that, as at the time of filing this report many of the injured victims were taken to the Federal Medical Center,(FMC) Owo, for treatment, while the dead bodies were deposited at different morgues in the state.
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