6 northerners gunned down in Ondo, days after Owo church killing

Some gunmen on Wednesday killed six northern men in the Sabo area of Ondo town in Ondo State.

The deceased were buried on Wednesday while one has since been hospitalized at an undisclosed hospital in the state.

The incident has happened while the people of the state were still mourning the attack and killing of dozens of innocent worshippers of the St Francis Catholic Church, Owa-luwa Street, in Owo LGA of Ondo State, on Sunday.

The Sarkin Hausawa of Ondo, Alhaji Abdulsalam Yusuf, has revealed to newsmen that the gunmen invaded the affected area on motorbikes around 12:30am and sporadically shot at innocent roadside petty traders.

“They came to our area (Sabo) on motorbikes and each was carrying three gunmen. All of a sudden, they started shooting people who were mostly suya and tea vendors.

“A J5 bus driver who was on transit and stopped to eat was the first victim. They killed a guardman and another shopkeeper who was trying to lock up his shop and run away from the assailants.

“They again gunned down two young men who were eating noodles at a mai shayi stall.  That makes five victims in Sabo alone.

“Again, they struck another area called Iba where they also shot dead another man,’’ he added.

Yusuf said he has brought the incident to the awareness of the divisional police officer in the area who deployed a police patrol team to the area for assessment of the situation and evacuation of the corpses to the mortuary while survivors hospitalized.  

He added that the attack might be a reprisal because their over 60 years of living in the area have been peaceful, until the Sunday attack on worshippers.

The Sarkin Hausawa of Shasha in Akure, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdullahi, told newsmen that the Hausa community had no hands in the Owo attack.

“We have been living peacefully for long with the people of Ondo State; we don’t have any problem with them. We are doing our businesses together, so what will lead us to attack them or to attack their church? 

“We want them to know that our people have no hand in the church attack,” he said.

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