Akure, June 11, 2022

Nobel Laureate and renowned playwright, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has described the attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, where many worshippers were killed, as a message to the entire people of South-West.

Soyinka made his view known on Friday while paying a condolence visit to Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu  over the terror attack last Sunday.

He described the attack as a message and said it was targeted at the governor who has been showing leadership in terms of internal liberation of his people.

“He (governor) was targeted and there is no question about that.

“It was not an accident, and it passed a message to the rest of us. That is why I’m here. I want the governor to know that we have received the message.

“We understand it and we came to sympathise with him that he was selected as a medium of that message,” Soyinka said.

Akeredolu thanked the Nobel laureate for the visit, saying that the state would remain hugely indebted to him.

“It is a cause that he has dedicated his life to, and I thank God for his life. The state wants to appreciate you for finding the time to come at this hour of grief.

“This is like a dagger drawn at our heart and it is an assault on the psyche of those of us in the South-West.

“I believe they think they can create some fears in us, but they made a mistake as the attack will make us more fierce in our condemnation of their actions,” Akeredolu noted.