Women groups under the aegis of Womanifesto has condemned the attack on St. Francis Catholic Church,
Owo in Ondo state on June 5, 2022 which left dozens of men, women and young person’s dead and many others critically wounded.
In a statement today, June 8, the group gave the Federal Government four weeks to arrest the wanton killing of defenceless citizens by criminal gangs who have been marauding unchecked across the country.
The group said that the cold-blooded massacre in St. Francis Church is yet another evidence of the blatant disregard for human life as a result of which thousands of people are widowed and children orphaned.
“It is reported that over 3, 515 people have died as a result of violent attacks between January and June, 2022, with 1, 214 deaths in March, ranking higher than the 996 deaths recorded in January (Nigeria Security Tracker).
“The Owo massacre in which citizens in their place of worship were killed, again raises the question of governance failure considering that our 1999 Constitution asserts security and welfare of citizens as a primary responsibility of the government. The same Constitution centralizes the command and control of security establishments in the Federal Government through the President of Nigeria as Commander-In-Chief of the Nigeria Armed Forces.
“According to a report, at least 14, 641 people have been killed across the six regions in Nigeria in the past three years, and in just the first five months of this year, about 3, 173 have been killed and more than 2293 abducted in
similar circumstances
“Unfortunately, the failure of the government to properly investigate or take tangible actions to ensure justice or deter future occurrences continues to exacerbate the crises.
“Since its insurgence in 2009, the herdsmen and banditry attacks have risen exponentially as the government has failed to demonstrate the capacity to address the insecurity plaguing the country.
“We therefore call on President Mohammadu Buhari, the Federal Government, the Nigeria Police and all other relevant Federal Law Enforcement Agency to take immediate measures beyond condemning this barbaric act- to end the insecurity in the country.
“Womanifesto demands in the medium term, a comprehensive restructure of Nigeria’s security architecture through a National Conversation on a new Constitution to replace the problematic 1999 Constitution.”
