The killing of over 50 worshippers of St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State by unknown assailants during a church service has continued to generate condemnation from all and sundry.
One of the survivors who was lucky to be alive spoke to FIJ News, stating the horror of being faced with the prospect of death, the relief he had watching his father escape death by the skin of his teeth after hiding inside the church’s confession box.
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The man who prefers to be anonymous for security reasons told the new medium how the killers appeared, the reason why many children were killed and why there was an initial report of bomb explosion by the media.
In his words, courtesy FIJ News:
So, you were saying you were right inside the church when it happened?
We were right there: me, my mum and my dad. I think the mass started
around 8:30am. On an ordinary Sunday, our mass doesn’t last beyond 2 hours and
30 minutes, and that’s on days when they have thanksgiving Sunday. But, today,
being Pentecost Sunday, there were a lot of programmes in the church; that’s
why the service extend till about 11:30am-12pm.
The priest who was presiding over the mass had already said his final
blessings; the choir had started singing. All that was left was for him to come
down from the altar and then proceed out of the church. It was when the choir
started singing that we heard the first gunshot. That sounded like it came from
outside the church. It was a very loud, banging sound. A lot of people looked
back; it took us by surprise.
People were thinking it was a silencer that got burst or some kids
outside were just playing pranks, because that wouldn’t be the first time we’ve
heard something like that, although not something as loud as that, obviously.
So, the church wardens were on the lookout. They were inside the church and
looking out to scan the church compound, then they were trying to close the
doors, and people were wondering what was happening.
I think the wardens saw the guns, and then like a reflex, they shouted,
‘close the door fast fast’. And then, the people who sat at the back of the
church started running forward. As they were running forward, the next gunshot
came, ‘boom’. The time between the first and the second gunshot was like 30
seconds. Things were moving very fast.
After the second gunshot, we knew this thing was serious, so people
were running forward, running towards the front. I went to look for my mum,
held her by the hand. I was trying to get her away from the windows and towards
the middle of the church, towards some chairs, some pews as we call them.
Then the third shot, and the shooting was just sporadic. It did not
stop. I just told my mum, ‘lie down flat’! The shooting went on for five to 10
minutes. They just kept shooting and shooting and shooting. It felt like it was
not going to end.
Then the shooting stopped, and that was it. We were all just waiting
and waiting until nobody could hear anything. Then people were trying to peep
up, and we saw that church members were moving around, so it seemed like
everywhere was a little bit safe.
Immediately I got up, I saw right by my side, in my front, dead bodies.
There were a lot of dead children. Two siblings; their brains were right on the
floor, right in my face. Old women in their CW (Catholic Women) uniform, dead.
I saw people dead on the altar, but the priest was alive, they did not kidnap
anybody; they didn’t say a word. They shot all through the 10 minutes without
uttering a single word.
Did you see the assailants?
My dad was by the church door, he saw them when they came in. He told
me he hid inside the confession box and just took some chairs to cover himself.
He said he saw them when they were closing the door, that they were in military
camouflage, and he saw one of them with an AK-47, and he said they were
shooting through the windows and did not enter the church. We did not close the
windows.
The shooting was just sporadic, they kept going and going and going and
going. They did not say a word, they kept shooting, and did not say a word. I
took my mum, looked for my dad, came back to the church because there was one
of our members who was wounded, he said he could not walk, I started crying for
people to help, and got him out. I saw people dying. It was a horrifying
experience.
How many were they?
My dad told me he counted four assailants. They could be more, but I
think they were four because it was almost as if they were standing and
shooting from the four corners of the church. They were trying to converge
their bullets on the middle of the church. I was in the middle and the shots
were getting closer and closer and closer to me.
Was there any explosion?
There was no fire, no smoke, nothing in the church. There was no sign
of any explosion inside or outside the church. I understand people saying there
was an explosion: there were two particular shots that were so loud and maybe
they used pump action or something. The shots were very, very, very [sic] loud,
but they were not bomb explosions; I didn’t hear any. However, I later heard
someone was injured because a dynamite was used on him.
Someone said military vehicles later came to pick up bodies. Is that
true?
I can’t speak to that, because when I got out, I returned to help my
friend with an injured leg and my mum was asking why I went out; she was very
upset; she almost smacked me. She was screaming at me, asking me if I didn’t
think there was a possibility the attackers were still around. She was just
crying; she could not believe she was still alive. I just took her to the car,
drove and we just left. What I can say for sure was from the time I put out my
tweet till the time we left, there were no armed uniform men, no uniformed
security official. I did not see one.
So, nobody can say who the assailants are?
No; not at all — because they did not say a word; they just kept
shooting. They did not say a single word. I’m pretty sure anyone who was not
lying down flat was probably shot. If you see the number of children that were
shot, that’s why. There is a particular section for children to seat when they
finish from their Sunday school, so that they would go to their seats in an
organised manner rather than disturb the peace of the church. As the priest was
saying the final blessings, many of them already knew the service was almost
over. Most of them would have been running around, sitting at the edge of the
seats, so that when the priest is passing, they can give him their ornaments,
their rosaries, for him to bless. So, most of them would just want to hug the
priest — because he plays with them a lot.
They would have been waiting; the happiness on their faces… I am sure
when they heard the gunshots, they would have been confused; they would have
been trying to find their parents, and then they just got caught in the
crossfire. It is beyond sad; it’s just insane, it’s terrible! It’s hard to put
into words, really hard to put into words
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