According to the initial report gotten after the governor of Anambra state, Willie Obiano, visited the scene to ascertain the level of damage and to sympathize with the people, the shooting was caused by feud between two brothers of that community living abroad.
Anambra Police Commissioner later on released a statement regarding the massacre, he said:
"Gentlemen of the press, I welcome you all to this press conference today 6th August, 2017. The purpose of this briefing is to intimate you on the shooting incident that happened this morning. At about 6.30hrs of today, 6th August 2017. I got a distress call that gunmen had invaded St. philip Catholic church Amakwa in Ozubulu, Ekwusigo LGA while the mass was going on and shot at worshipers. Police teams along with other sister security agencies under my direct supervision were deployed to the scene to rescue the worshippers. Victims were evacuated to the hospital, and the hospital authority has confirmed 11 persons dead, and 18 injured as a result of the shooting. The Executive governor of the state visited the scene while I was there, and assured the injured persons of his support in offsetting the medical bills and that the full wrath of law will be visited on the perpetrators. The Command under my watch will leave no stone unturned in locating and prosecuting those behind the massacre of innocent worshipers. The Command assures Ndi Anambra and the general public that the Police is on top of the situation and will locate and prosecute the perpetrators soon. Intelligence report/Preliminary investigation shows that the incident is as a result of a feud between two individuals who are from the community but who live outside Nigeria, one of the individual we learnt, built the church where the incident occurred. It is definitely not a terrorist attack in the mould of boko haram or fulani herdsmen attack. The Command views this dastardly act as sacrilegious but for now considers it still premature to disclose the identities of those involved in the act. The Command will brief the public after investigation is concluded. I commiserate with all those who lost their loved ones from this unfortunate incident and pledge that the command would not rest on its oars until the perpetrators are apprehended to face justice. I want to also encourage Ndi Anambra to be vigilant and to report strange and suspicious movement of persons and actions in their locality to the security agencies promptly, please. Thanks and God bless. CP GARBA BABA UMAR psc COMMISSIONER OF POLICE ANAMBRA STATE
After all said and done, a traumatized eye witness, Loveth Gift, who was there at the time of the shooting came forward to narrate what really happened to Ejike Ofoegbu who arrived Anambra from Aba to the scene and this version of the story goes in contrary to the report given by the police.
"Please over look the police report" Ejike Ofoegbu had said before reporting the real story as narrated by the eyewitness.
The eye witness, Loveth Gift, narrated:
"We all were in the church during the 6am morning mass today, we saw two cars that drove into the church; because it was a Church premises we over looked it and we considered them to be people that came for morning mass(service). But to the surprise of everyone, the car halted at the center of the gate, meaning you cannot close the gate, since it is open already. "The driver came out of the car pretending he was fixing a problem; so everyone still ignored the drama happening outside the premises."Suddenly, some men came out from the car, fully armed, all in Army uniform. I was lucky because I was sitting at the back, just beside the door, but I was clearly seeing what was happening. The sky was cloudy and everywhere seemed dark; no one saw what they were carrying, whether it was gun, but surely they were fully equipped."They immediately rushed to the front door. I was too lucky to jump the fence, but before I had jumped, I heard gun shot everywhere in the building. They obstructed the front gate, because for women that is their only route to escape. That was why women were killed more than men. Children were killed as well, many were seriously injured. "After I had escaped, I started making calls to link my church members who were in the church, but they were not picking up; not knowing they were dead already. The gun men were not Igbos, because their language were not Igbo, the government should stop lying, I heard they said That, they gun Men were flashing touch light on us, but it a lie, because the whole church was so lighted that even from outside you will see who is inside. Even at that, if they were really flashing touch light to know who is their target, those that were killed, are they their target.Like I said before and I will say it again, I was at the back door, I saw all that happened, they were with Army uniform, face covered, standing at the Front door, holding their trigger, and shooting at anything that moves.When the police came, I was waiting for them to ask questions of what happened, so that I will explain, but they were busy taking pictures of the dead ones, without knowing the fact"Not too long after they had gone, I went back to the church. I was shocked with what I saw; my Mother was lying dead! Many people were unconscious but later succumbed to death."After about one hour of the killings, the Police arrived the church. Two hours later, the Governor, Willie Obiano arrived too. Everyone was shocked, wandering how the perpetrators stormed in Army uniform. Questions began to arise: "Who gave them the Army uniform?" Who gave them the Army car?" Surely jihad is here, and everyone have to defend him/her self.A woman who still survived the mayhem said, "All I could remember is that I was sitting at the front when some people in Army uniform invaded the Church and started shooting at everyone. They just held the trigger and fired at everyone they sighted. I managed to hide under the seat but was shot in the leg. "A boy was shot in head, his brain bursted, and blood spilled everywhere - even at my face.
President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the attack, describing the incident as “an appalling crime against humanity and unspeakable sacrilege.”
Expressing his grief in a strongly worded statement issued by Garba Shehu the the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, President Buhari said that “there was no justification whatsoever to target Church worshippers and kill them in cold blood.”
He said this kind of atrocity “plumbs the depth of depravity and extreme cruelty of the kind that words cannot adequately express.
May their souls rest in Peace, Amen!
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