Families of those killed by terrorists at the St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, a year ago, have continued to recount their heartbreaking ordeals and experiences.
It will be recalled that no fewer than 41 worshippers, including children and the elderly, were murdered during a morning mass by the terrorists.
A statement issued on Monday, by the Director of Social Communications of the Diocese, Ikwu Augustine Ikwu, in Akure, said that a week-long programme had been planned to officially reopen the church for worshippers.
In addition to shooting the worshippers at close range, the killers threw dynamite inside the church on June 5, 2022.
While many victims were severely injured, others are still nursing their wounds and shuttling between their homes and specialist hospitals.
Speaking a year after the tragic incident, a trader named Monogbe Rita, who also lost her husband and two in-laws, said she would never forget what happened.
Mother of five declared: “I won’t forget this terrible incident because I lost my husband, a police officer named Monogbe John, two sisters-in-law named Monogbe Omolola and Testimony John, and one of my sons who is still alive but has a head injury.
“Immediately people started running inside; I saw some hefty men clad in black, so I ran back. After the consistent gunshots, my husband, who was a police officer and the churchwarden left the middle of church to find out what was happening.
” On his way to peep through the window so as to check what really went wrong outside, he was gunned down, and his sister, who was following him as well as cautioning him not to peep, was also shot dead.
“My daughter, who had been following her father before he and his sister were shot, ran back for her life, but one of the attackers gave her a hot pursuit, and the gunman chasing her shot her. She was shot in the head slightly, but she was able to roll beneath a car that was parked nearby.
“So as the storm calmed, I saw another sister-in-law soaked in blood; it seems she was shot in her private part. But she later died.”
The mother of five said she was given N500,000, and the church also supported her with starting capital to commence business as well as scholarships for her children.
“I used all the money given to me to purchase a cassava grinding machine for the purpose of earning income to cater for my children.”
Also, one Mrs. Stella Ogbefun expressed her sorrow over the death of her grandson, a pharmacy student at the University of Benin, or UNIBEN.
Ogbefun stated that her grandson, whom she simply identified as Tony, came to live with her temporarily until the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, called off the strike action.
“Tony was shot dead, but his brother, who escaped being killed, was profusely bleeding, and helpers said I should leave the dead and carry the living brother to the hospital. It was the saddest moment of my life.
“When I called their parents in Kogi, I told them to come to Owo, but couldn’t inform them that one of their children had given up the ghost.
” Upon the arrival of the parents, they met me in an inconsolable state. As they tried to comfort me, they got wind of the death of their child. They couldn’t hold it anymore, so they left me and started sprawling on the floor. Tony was later buried.”
On the reopening of the Owo church, she said the memory won’t fade off easily, but maintained that she would keep serving God regardless of the terrible incident that nearly shattered her life.
Also, narrating her harrowing experience, Adejokun Titilayo, said the incident has left her crippled.
Adejokun said that the killing remained indescribable to her.
“I was in the church that very day, I can’t believe that I’m still alive. I can’t even describe how the incident happened because it was a devastating experience for me.
“I lost my wheelchair and one of my shoes to the incident. In fact, people who could walk with their legs died but how I managed to escape is a mystery, all I remembered was that I heard gunshots from every angle.
“Seeing myself alive gives me joy because those who had the opportunity to escape were killed by the gunmen, who attacked the house of God.
“It is heart-wrenching to see how innocent worshipers were killed because I was at the front when it happened.”
Meanwhile, the Ondo Diocese of the Catholic Church in Owo has commenced activities to formally open the church.