By Linus Aleke
The Defence Headquarters (DHQ), on Tuesday said that the perpetrators of the Owo massacre has finally been arrested by the military.

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor, who made this disclosure while interacting with editors and media executives in Abuja, also noted that the arrests were carried out in different locations in collaboration with the intelligence agencies.

He promised to parade the perpetrators of the dastardly act in due cause, saying that investigations are still ongoing to unravel their mode of operations.

Recall that on June 5, worshippers at the St Francis Catholic Church in Owo, south-western Nigeria, congregated to worship their God when suddenly a group of armed men who had been hiding among the congregation opened fire, killing 40 people, including four children.

He said, “I want to tell you that we have arrested the attackers of Owo Church. We were to parade them today for you to be but investigations are still ongoing. For the purpose of this interaction, I will like to read out their names and as I read out their names, let me say that it is not just the Armed Forces, but the DSS, the Police and other intelligence agencies were part and parcel of the efforts to apprehend these criminals who have put us and indeed the nation on the toes.

“On August 7, Idris Ojo (37) was apprehended at Aiyetorosi in Ondo State. He is one of the high profile Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) that escaped from Kuje Prison.
Along side with him is one Jimoh Ibrahim who is a 39 year old criminal who was also arrested.

“Idris Ojo was not done with all the criminal activities which he undertook in the past, he was also planning other deadly attacks and he was perfecting those plans along with his cronies before he was apprehended. On August 4, again, the Military in a combined operation with the DSS, arrested four terrorists at Eika in Okehi Local Government of Kogi State.

“These are Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza otherwise known as Ibn Malik; Momoh Abubakar, Aliyu Itopa and Auwal Onimisi. Now, Omeiza is one of the masterminds of the June 5 Catholic Church attack in Owo, as well as the attack on the Police station in Adavi also in Kogi State, that led to the killing of a policeman as well as weapons being carried away”.

The CDS also frowned at the idea of recruiting mercenaries to support the military in the fight against terrorists.

He advised that the resources that would be used to hire mercenaries, should be channeled to build the capacity of the troops who are constitutionally empowered to protect the nation’s territorial integrity.

According to him, “mercenary is not an option, it is a half story. Mercenaries are commercial entities moving from one place to the other. We should rather use the resources to build the capacity of those that have the responsibility to protect the country”.

He however reassured Nigerians that the Military will do everything possible to defend the territorial integrity of the country, adding that it will not relinquish the control of the country to terrorists.

Irabor urged Nigerians, especially the media, to unite against the enemies of the State.

“The core responsibility of the Military is to protect the territorial integrity of the country. A nation is as strong as its Military and there are various avenues you can weaken your Military. There are people who are strong physical but you can attack them emotionally and their strength will be useless.

“Do not encourage people to weaken the emotional strength of the Armed Forces, if you do, everyone of us will be the losers. God has created this space for us to dominate, our dominating and exploiting the resources of the State is a collective responsibility. It is for us, our families and our children to enjoy. It is not for us to abandon it for some other idiots to take over, it is for us to defend and enjoy. So whatever it will take to defend the nation, we will do,” he assured.

Gen. Irabor further assured that the Military is prepared to defend the 2023 electoral process.

He said, “some time last week the Inspector General of Police (IGP), had a forum for personnel of the Police, the Military and other security Agencies that will be involved in the election and I made a statement that as members of the Armed Forces, we have a convenant with the electoral process. That statement presupposes that we will do anything to create the condition for a free, safe and secured conduct of the 2023 general elections. We will do everything to ensure that nothing stops it.We have a convenant with the Democratic process”.

Answering question on how safe Abuja is for the residents, he concluded that Abuja is very safe.

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