By Fortune Eromosele — Abuja

A civil society organisation, Global Rights, has condemned the recent attack on worshippers of the Owo community on Sunday.

Recall that there was a massacre of worshippers at St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo in Ondo state, which claimed over 50 lives and stared reactions from government officials and Nigerians.

A statement by the Executive Director, Global Rights, Abiodun Baiyewu, on Monday, said the killing of innocent worshipers in cold blood, is a sad reminder of the realities to the government to ensure the security and welfare of all Nigerians as mandated of them by Section 14(2)(b) of the constitution.

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The statement read: “We condole with the people of Ondo state, in particular, residents of the affected community in Owo, and the Catholic Church at large.

“We note with displeasure the body language of the political class, especially the President, who within hours of the attack, feted his party leadership to a pre-primaries dinner party at the Presidential Villa.
“The dinner party which was attended by the Vice President, the Senate President, the leadership of the ruling APC, and other presidential aspirants of the party was a sheer display of insensitivity and further underscored the notion that Nigerian lives are cheap and the unfortunate event did not warrant sobriety and attention.

“We are appalled by the continued upsurge in mass atrocities across the country in recent times. These continued acts of terrorism are an affront to the territorial integrity of the Nigerian state and a threat to its national security and must therefore not be allowed to spread any further.”

Baiyewu called on the federal government to fulfil its constitutional responsibility of protecting the security and welfare of all citizens through the implementation of a more robust approach to curbing terrorism across the country.
“The government must take deliberate action in addressing the immediate and remote circumstances that are exacerbating terrorism and other forms of mass atrocities across the country,” she said.

To this end, she enjoined all Nigerians to remain vigilant and rise to a collective call of resisting the abnormal situation that is becoming a norm in Nigeria and demand accountability from the government.

Vanguard News Nigeria