Femi Falana, human rights lawyer, says the federal government
needs to act promptly on intelligence reports compiled by the security
agencies.
On Sunday, St Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo state,
was attacked by gunmen while mass was in progress. Many — including women and
children — were killed in the attack.
In a statement on Monday, Falana commiserated with the
government and people of Ondo state over the massacre.
“Our hearts go to the bereaved families who lost their loved
ones in the dastardly attack,” he said.
However, the senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN) said the
government must go beyond issuing threats and alerting citizens of imminent
attacks.
He recalled that the Department of State Services (DSS) had
on March 20 issued a statement claiming that it had discovered plans to cause
violence in parts of the country, particularly in the north-central.
“Exactly nine days later, a group of terrorists attacked the
Abuja-Kaduna train, killed over a dozen passengers and injured several others,”
he said.
“Once again, on April 26, 2022, the SSS alerted Nigerians on
alleged plans by some dangerous elements to launch bomb attacks on critical
infrastructure and public places like worship and relaxation centres,
especially during and after the festive celebrations.
“As predicted, a group of unmasked armed terrorists stormed
the St Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo state where they detonated
explosives in the church and then gunned down worshippers during service on
Sunday, June 5, 2022.
“After the terrorist attack, the Ondo police command was
reported to have deployed officers of the explosive ordinance disposal (EOD)
unit, better known as the anti-bomb
squad, to Owo local government area.
“As expected, the federal government has condemned the
reckless attack on the worshippers and threatened to bring the criminal
elements to justice.
“However, governments
at all levels must go beyond issuing threats. It is common knowledge that every
country involved in the prosecution of war on terror is required to train
security personnel and acquire adequate security gadgets to protect the people.
“Therefore, the federal government should ensure that the
nation’s airports, trains, buses, courts, schools, malls, churches, mosques,
banks and other public places are provided with screening machines and CCTV
cameras.
“As a matter of urgency, the federal government and the
various state governments should promptly act on intelligence reports compiled
by the State Security Service and other security agencies.
“We urge the security forces to continue to frustrate the
nefarious agenda of the terrorists. We
also call on citizens to be security-conscious and report suspicious security
threats to law enforcement agencies.”
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