The Owo Massacre: Where Does Our Help Come From?

The Owo Massacre: Where Does Our Help Come From?

It is typical of every christian family in Nigeria to start their Sunday by going to church beautifully dressed, hence the phrase “sunday best”. This was the case for the martyrs of Saint Francis Catholic Church Owo, Ondo State; little did they know that 5th June 2022 was going to be their last day on earth.

Most people would argue that the church is one of the safest places on earth because, I mean, that is the house of the Almighty God. People battling with several challenges of life find solace in church, believing that when you are in church you are in the presence of God. Alas, some really terrible people dared to enter the House of God and killed parishioners who were there to worship.

It is really exasperating as this has become a regular occurrence in Nigeria. I wonder how the families of those who lost loved ones are coping; it must be very harrowing and traumatic at this time; that child who has suddenly become orphaned, the mental health of teenagers who witnessed their loved ones being murdered in cold blood.

Several celebrities have responded to the Owo killing, calling out the government for its seeming nonchalance regarding insecurity and advocating for citizens to vote in leaders who are visionary and value human life. @savvyrinu tweeted that “the president of this country didn’t summon security chiefs, instead he threw a banquet with his fellow politicians”. This just to show how much these guys care about us. If you ask me, I think they were celebrating the shooters for a job well done. @davido on his twitter page handed the matter over to Jesus by asking him to take control and also asking that prayers be made on behalf of the victims. For how long are we going to pray? @falzthebahdguy in his tweet highlighted how so much of a mess Nigeria is. I couldn’t agree more. @mrmacaroni took to his twitter handle to say that “the Nigerian survival mentality is not a blessing but a curse”. 

We have often heard of the saying not to be in the wrong place at the wrong time but these people were at the right place at the right time. “If these people did not go to church they would still be alive”; this is unfortunately true. @aprokodoctor tweeted “ You can do everything right, follow all the recommendations, safety precautions and still lose your life. Today is one of the days being a Nigerian saddens me”.  I would like to conclude by quoting @drjoeabah’s tweet “The State should not be powerless against terrorism though praying that they go to hell is one thing but Putin is reputed to have said “To forgive the terrorists is up to God, but to send them there is up to me”. The roles of God and the state should be clear to the State”. 

Picture of Becky Ojima

Becky Ojima

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts

Client

Ubongo International

Role

Content Producer (Nigeria Chapter)

  • Created community engagement videos and digital learning content
  • Produced human-interest features on early childhood learning in underserved communities
Client

International IDEA – Impact of RoLAC Programme (EU-Funded)

Role

Documentary Production Consultant

  • Produced documentary film showcasing justice sector reforms in Nigeria
  • Developed content strategy for visibility and dissemination
  • Coordinated interviews with government actors, CSOs, and international partners
Client

Save The Children

Brief

Provide media and coverage and content development for the Stop Diarrhoea Initiative in Lagos State.

We provided video and photo coverage for all project events assigned in Lagos. A group of 50 children were also trained on content development and storytelling as part of awareness for the project.

We successfully managed the production of events under the project using top-notch professional equipment. The Save the Children team in Lagos had enough videos and photo content for the campaign.

Client

Sanlam of Nigeria

Brief

FBN Insurance was rebranding to Sanlam Nigeria after a merger with the South African company and we had to provide event media production services suitable for an international event.

We shared the brief with all vendors who qualified for the different aspects of the event. We ensured all set up was ready and a dry-run done six hours before the event started.

The South African team was impressed with our professionalism and the event was a huge success with news mentions across platforms within and outside Nigeria.

Client

Helen Keller International

Brief

Ensure professional videography and photography coverage of all projects

Teo-Inspiro International ensured our production team understood the brief for each event and delivered professional coverage and content for all media platforms.

All HKI project events assigned to us were produced successfully. All vendors engaged provided excellent service to the client on every occasion. A short documentary of the 5-year Nutrition and Healthy Lifestyle project was produced.

Client

FirstBank of Nigeria

Brief

Provide media content development for the digital marketing team of FirstBank of Nigeria.

Photography coverage of all events hosted and sponsored by FirstBank, live edit and share content with the digital media team for posting on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook live at the event.

Since 2019 we have successfully provided over 2.5million images used on FirstBank’s social media platforms. Due to the quality of content this has increased engagement on the bank’s social media platforms and recently achieved 1million followership on Instagram.

Client

British Council ACT Programme

Brief

Media Engagement Consultancy to support the delivery of the EU-ACT communication and visibility under five (5) objectives. ACT Programme wants to use new and traditional media platforms to create awareness and visibility on the importance of CSOs in achieving the SDGs

We developed the “Civic Action, Sustainable Communities” campaign aimed at showcasing the contributions of CSOs to sustainable development in Nigeria. Digital marketing was deployed across all social media platforms and relevant content curated from the 200 benefiting CSOs on the ACT Programme. A weekly interactive radio program was produced for thirteen weeks across four locations (Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt and Abuja) on Nigeria Info and Arewa Radio. About twenty-five CSOs and other stakeholders involved in the ACT Programme featured in an international documentary showcasing the impact of the programme. Investigative journalists and feature writers were supported to publish stories and reports covering the thematic areas of the ACT Programme on AIT, Guardian, Vanguard, ThisDay, The Nation, Leadership and BluePrint newspapers. A website was also designed to serve as a repository for all campaign project activities.

The campaign resulted in more recognition and appreciation for CSOs contribution to development in Nigeria by citizens, open dialogue between CSOs and regulatory agencies and other CSOs wanting to be part of the campaign. Asides the social media campaign a documentary about the ACT Programme and its impact on CSOs across Nigeria was produced. Teo-Inspiro leveraged her relationship with broadcast and print media organization to publish feature stories about the positive impact of the Programme in Nigeria. The campaign had over 5,000 followers on social media and over 200,000 reach across platforms. The radio program reached over a million people during the 13-week period.