Akeredolu wondered why the South West was attacked by the gunmen without provocation.
Future attacks in the South West will not be allowed, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State has warned.
Speaking on Tuesday, the governor said he doesn't know why a region that preaches peace should be attacked.
Akeredolu stated this on Tuesday at the Government House in Akure while receiving Governors Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Babajide Sanwo-olu (Lagos), and AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (Kwara State).
Akeredolu wondered why the South West was attacked by the gunmen without provocation.
The governor described the Owo attack as an assault on the South West and “one too many”.
The governor, however, appreciated the governors for their solidarity, which he described as not just symbolic but important.
He said: “We are part of this country and we have always come to this country in peace and we have maintained peace. We have been trying every time to maintain Nigeria because we believe in Nigeria.
“Let someone point to an incident in which we left our enclave or we left this peaceful environment and went to cause problems in other places. Let them tell us.
“We have come to this country in peace, and now people want to visit us with war. You want to maim and kill us; it is not easy.
“It is a dreadful assault. I said to people that if we were at war and we were armed and faced ourselves, in one day 40 people would not die from our side. But this is not war, we were not at war.
“This is an assault on us, on our psyche. We cannot continue this way. We believe in this place, we believe in the South-Western region, we believe in Yoruba. Is Yoruba part of Nigeria we believe in? Yes.
“But I thank you for your solidarity. You have come all the time and we have always worked together, all of us.
“If you get to the scene, I’m sure it will bring tears out of your eyes. These criminals, these animals in human skin, what they did was horrendous.
“They did not come to kidnap, they did not come to steal, they took no dime. They went into the church and shot at everything within their sight.”