Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, widow of the late former Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, has stormed the tomb of her husband in Owo Local Government Area of the state to condemn the demolition of the memorial park built to immortalise the victims of the terror attack on St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church.

The memorial park, built by Mr Akeredolu’s administration to honour the victims of the June 5, 2022, terrorist attack—where over 40 worshippers were killed at the church—was brought down over the weekend.

A bulldozer, acting under the instructions of the incumbent Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, reportedly tore down the edifice following alleged complaints from the Olowo of Owo, Oba Ajibade Gbadegesin Ogunoye.

In a three-minute and fifteen-second video posted on her social media on Wednesday, the distraught Mrs Akeredolu broke down in tears, describing the demolition as an attempt to “rubbish” her husband’s legacy.

“Darling, I’ve always known you to love your people. Please see Owo people, then see what they have done to you,” she wept.

The former first lady recounted the efforts of her late husband to honour the memory of the victims of the Owo violent attack.

She also criticised Mr Aiyedatiwa and the Olowo of Owo, Ajibade Gbadegesin Ogunoye, whom she claimed was installed on the throne by her late husband.

 “They didn’t blink an eye in rubbishing you, rubbishing your memory, rubbishing your legacy, as they claim, spear-headed by Olowo of Owo, whom you single-handedly install and ‘Lucky’ the enabler ordered for demolition of a monument in remembrance of those victims massacred.

 “The entire nation was shocked, and the least you could do was to erase that monument. Nobody, no corpse, was buried in that place. It was symbolic, all these people, they travel abroad, they see what happens in other climes,” Mrs Akeredolu said.

In an emotional-laden manner, the widow of the late Akeredolu added: “Why do we do things differently? To score political points or to settle scores? The Oba (Olowo of Owo) that doesn’t want the so-called cemetery, but that’s not a cemetery.

 “There is one behind his house. He sleeps with the dead. All the Olowos of the world, where were they buried, were they not buried in that place he’s living? Look at the hypocrisy!

“I promise you (Akeredolu), I promise you, so long as I live, so long as I live, they will not succeed. They will not rubbish you. They will not rubbish you. Aketi lives on, I say it all the time.”