The Catholic Diocese of Ondo has pledged support for the relocation of the town’s Saint Francis Xavier Catholic Church  memorial park, which was constructed in Owo in honor of the victims of the massacre on June 5, 2022, to a different location.
Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa met with stakeholders in Akure, where all the issues surrounding the incident were addressed and resolved, according to a statement released by Prince Ebenezer Adeniyan, governor’s chief press secretary, on Friday.
The church leaders, led by Dr. Jude Arogundade, the Catholic Bishop of Ondo Diocese, and Bishop Stephen Fagbemi, the bishop of Owo Diocese, attended the meeting, which took place in the Cocoa Conference Hall of the Governor’s Office.
The Olowo-in-Council, his deputy, Bishop Ayodeji Komolafe, and other church leaders also represented the state chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
Read more about Why Owo Memorial Park Was Demolished by the Ondo government.
Dr. Olayide Adelami, the deputy governor of the state, and other top state government officials are also present.
The governor disclosed that a team of government representatives has been appointed to coordinate construction of a new cenotaph in an area that is respectful of the church and the Owo people.
Governor Aiyedatiwa cautioned all parties involved in the demolition to refrain from using language and narratives that might enrage the populace and cause the community to lose respect for law and order.
The church has accepted the relocation of Memorial Park and will support the committee that will find a suitable location for a new cenotaph, according to Bishop Arogundade and other leaders who spoke at the meeting.
The church leaders pledged to continue treating the Owo, Olowo, and Olowo-in-Council with the respect they deserve while stressing that the Owo community has been very accommodating to the Catholic Church for decades as the first church to emigrate there.
The Most Rev., the Catholic diocese’s most recent bishop, signed a statement expressing the Catholic diocese’s commitment to the Catholic diocese. Arogundade’s daughter, Jane, expressed disappointment with the destruction.
The demolition was deemed a “violation of our shared respect for the dignity of life and the memory of the” 41 brothers and sisters who were unlawfully murdered on June 2, 2022, according to the statement.
The state government had legitimately acquired and developed the site, and it had been made a memorial park in honor of the victims.
Source: Channels TV
Leave a Reply