The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Abdulmajid Ali, on Sunday, said six persons had been arrested in connection with two improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted in the church.
A reliable source close to the church, who did not want his name in print, told the Nigerian Tribune that the incident occurred at about 8.00 p.m on Saturday, when residents of the town were indoors, watching the ongoing World Cup in Brazil.
The source said security men in the church noticed suspicious movements in the area and, apparently worried as a result of the development, immediately alerted the senior pastor of the church and security personnel in the state.
The police, it was gathered, immediately contacted some other security agencies, including the soldiers, to effect the arrest of the six suspected suicide bombers.
Nigerian Tribune learnt that the suspects had already planted one of the bombs with them at the entrance of the church.
While being interrogated, the suspects confessed that they were in Owerri to bomb five churches in the state.
The usual 7.00 a.m church service of Winners Chapel, as a result of the development, was shifted to Hero Square, near Concorde Hotel.
Speaking with newsmen on the church premises, Ali said the “two timed bombs” were planted on the church premises by unknown persons.
According to the police commissioner, the command was alerted to the strange objects in the church compound which immediately deployed its anti-bomb squad.
“We are happy that the squad immediately detonated the bomb on arrival and six persons have been arrested so far,” he said.
Ali said the command would do everything possible to unravel the perpetrators of the act.
Also speaking, Brigade Commander, 34 Artillery Brigade, Owerri, Brigadier-General Lanre Bello, confirmed that the explosives were capable of killing many people at a time.
Imo State governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, reacting to the incident, condemned the attempt to bomb the church.
Okorocha, while addressing newsmen, also commended the security agencies for their timely intervention.
The governor urged the people of the state to be security conscious at all times and report any strange object or movement around them to security agencies.
Okorocha lamented that the explosives planted on the church premises could have killed many innocent people if they had exploded.
Source: Tribune