Reactions have continued to trail Sunday’s terrorist attack on Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Oke Isegun, in Eruku, Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State, as victims, survivors, and indigenes fault official narratives describing the incident as an “attempted attack.”
One of the most vocal reactions came from Nollywood actress Oluwabukola Grace Awoyemi, popularly known as Arugba, who hails from Eruku.
In a video message responding to the statement issued by the Kwara First Lady, Awoyemi dismissed reports suggesting the attack was unsuccessful.
According to her, the situation on the ground was far more devastating.
She said, “The information you got from the Kwara State police is false. This involves my people directly. It was a successful attack. It was not an attempted attack. A lot of people were abducted. Some are in the hospital. Three people are dead. Four of my cousins are in the bandits’ den. They have been abducted… Please, save us. We need help in Nigeria.”
She named some of the abducted victims as Evangelist Titi Balogun, her mother’s younger sister, and Ebenezer Aina, her cousin’s son.
A survivor of the attack, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, gave a chilling account of what transpired during the church’s live-streamed service.
He said the terrorists, numbering over 30 and armed with sophisticated weapons, stormed the church while shooting indiscriminately.
He said, “We were scrambling for safety. They shot our security men repeatedly. They told us to lie on the floor. Those who hid were dragged out.
They killed three people and kidnapped 35. After everything, over a hundred bullets littered the floor.”
He further alleged that police operatives on the scene fired teargas instead of confronting the attackers and prevented local vigilantes from intervening.
“The police didn’t help us… They stopped vigilantes from helping,” he said, adding that the attackers had not contacted families of the kidnapped as of the time he spoke.
Since the incident, Eruku and neighbouring communities have witnessed multiple protests, with angry youths blocking the convoy of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq during his visit to the attacked church, demanding he address them directly about the worsening insecurity.
Tension escalated further as some residents accused the governor of complicity, claims yet to be supported by evidence but widely circulated in the community.
A protesting woman alleged that “the governor sent terrorists to Oke-Ode,” a claim authorities have neither confirmed nor officially responded to.
Many residents now fear the situation may deteriorate further, with calls for self-help growing louder amid frustration over the state’s security response.
The Kwara State Police Command and the state government have yet to issue an updated statement addressing the new claims from survivors and residents.
