Chief Detunji Adeleye, commander of the South-West security unit code-named Amotekun in Ondo State, yesterday strengthened the campaign for state police by detailing how the unit detained several suspects in the murders of worshipers at the St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State.

The Amotekun commander stated that the security agency has been looking for the sponsors of the assassins but declined to provide further information about the suspects or their identities out of concern for their safety.

Adeleye did not parade the suspects in front of the public and did not disclose how many of them had been detained.

Recall that on June 5, 2022, during a morning mass, more than 40 worshippers were brutally slain and more than 100 more were injured.

Days after the assault, the Federal Government accused the Islamic State of West African Province, or ISWAP, of carrying it out. Interior Minister Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola claimed that it was planned by criminals from outside.

Aregbesola added that security agents were focusing in on the perpetrators of the incident and that security agencies had been instructed to track them down and prosecute them.

Even as he insisted that the group’s activity had nothing to do with actual religion, he pointed out that the attack had no apparent racial or religious underpinning.

Kayode Fayemi, the chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), and Rotimi Akeredolu, the governor of Ondo State, however, had criticised the Federal Government’s assertion, calling it hypothetical.

Akeredolu and Fayemi both argued that the Federal Government’s announcement was made in haste.

Amotekun source: alleged killers are not ISWAP members.

However, an Amotekun employee who spoke anonymously claimed that those detained were not ISWAP members.

The arrestees were “absolutely not ISWAP members,” a second source with knowledge of the incident confided in Vanguard. I can only confide in you about it. The organisation would want to keep some crucial information hidden for the time being for security concerns.

According to him, there are 176,846 polling places in Nigeria and none elsewhere. I believe it is past time for this nation to pass legislation that would make it illegal to promote false information. The right to free expression shouldn’t serve as an excuse for making careless claims.