The Ondo State Government says the death toll from the last Sunday terror attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, the headquarters of Owo Local Government Area of the state has risen to 40.

The state Commissioner for Health, Dr Banji Ajaka, made the disclosure via a statement issued on Wednesday.

Many worshippers were reported to have been killed while several others were injured in the attack which occurred on Sunday.

While the governor of the state, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, said 22 people lost their lives to the terror attack, the Bishop of Ondo Catholic Diocese, Most Rev. Jude Arogundade, disclosed that 38 bodies were in the morgue, adding that efforts were on to locate the families of those who did not take their relatives to the hospital.

Akeredolu, in a statewide broadcast on Tuesday, stated that 56 survivors were on admission at the Federal Medical Center (FMC), Owo, St Louis Hospital, and the Owo General Hospital as well as some private hospitals.

READ ALSO: Church attack: Akeredolu, Catholic Bishop differ on casualty figure

The governor, who said the attack was an attempt to test the will of the people of the state and the South-West region of the country, noted that 78 persons were involved in the incident.

However, the state Commissioner for Health, in the statement, said as of Tuesday midnight, the state government’s record showed that those affected by the attack are 127 while 40 were confirmed dead.

“The situation report as of 12midnight on Tuesday, June 7, 2022 is that at St. Louis Hospital, Owo, 39 people were involved and 13 deaths.

“At the Federal Medical Centre, Owo, the total number of persons involved is 84 and number of corpses in FMC mortuary is 25; 17 females and eight males,” Ajaka said.

The commissioner added that two deaths were recorded from two private hospitals in the state.

The Star