Gunmen with explosives stormed a Catholic church and opened fire in southwest Nigeria on Sunday, killing “many” worshippers and wounding others, the government and police said.
The violence at St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo town in Ondo State erupted during the morning service when armed men fired at worshippers.
State police spokeswoman Ibukun Odunlami said the gunmen also attacked the church with explosives, leaving an unknown number of worshippers dead.
“It’s still premature to say exactly how many people were killed. But many worshippers lost their lives while others were injured in the attack,” she told AFP news agency.
One witness, who gave his name as Abayomi, said at least 20 worshippers had died in the attack.
“I was passing through the area when I heard a loud explosion and gunshots inside the church,” he told AFP, adding that he had seen at least five gunmen.
State lawmaker Ogunmolasuyi Oluywole told the Associated Press that children were among the dead.
‘Heinous killing’
No group claimed responsibility for the attack.
The motives and the exact death toll were not immediately clear, but President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the “heinous killing of worshippers”.
Ondo state governor Rotimi Akeredolu called it a “vile and satanic attack” on innocent people and appealed to the security forces to track down the assailants and for people not to take the law into their own hands.
“The assailants will be hunted down and they will pay for their crimes,” he said following a briefing at the scene.
I was at the scene of the terror attack on innocent worshipers at St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo, today. I also visited the hospitals where survivors of the attack are receiving medical attention.
The attack was the most dastardly act that could happen in any society. pic.twitter.com/I8xv80CTfL
— Arakunrin Akeredolu (@RotimiAkeredolu) June 5, 2022
Prayers for victims
Pope Francis said in a statement he had learned of the “death of dozens of faithful”, many children, during the celebration of the Christian holiday of the Pentecost.
“While the details of the incident are being clarified, Pope Francis prays for the victims and for the country,” he said.
Attacks on religious sites are particularly sensitive in Nigeria where tensions sometimes flare between communities in a country with a mostly Christian south and a predominantly Muslim north.
Gun and bomb attacks are rare in Ondo state, but Nigeria’s military is battling a 12-year-old jihadist insurgency in the northeast, gangs in the northwest and separatist agitation in the southeast.
Boko Haram jihadist group in the northeast has targeted churches in the past as part of Nigeria’s conflict that has killed 40,000 and displaced 2 million more.
The attack came a day before the ruling APC party starts primaries for its candidate in the 2023 election to replace Buhari, a former army commander who steps down after two terms in office.
Buhari has been criticised for failing to handle the country’s security problems.
(with newswires)