Gunmen attacked a Catholic church in in Owo town in Ondo State; southwest of Nigeria, during mass on Sunday, killing at least 50 worshippers including children, according to local officials.
The gunmen shot at people outside and inside the church building, killing and injuring worshippers, said Funmilayo Ibukun Odunlami, police spokesperson for Ondo state.
Richard Olatunde, spokesman for the Ondo State governor’s office, also told AFP that a dynamite exploded inside the church before the gunmen opened fire.
“They did not even enter the church, they were shooting through the windows,” he said.
National Emergency Management Agency local representative Olanrewaju Kadiri said more than 20 people were killed, including several children.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack and the motives were not clear. One witness told the media that he saw at least five gunmen on the church premises during the attack.
Ondo state Governor Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, who visited the scene of the attack and injured persons at the hospital, described the incident as “a great massacre” that should not be allowed to happen again.
President Muhammadu Buhari condemned “heinous killing of worshippers” while Pope Francis offered prayers for the victims.
Catholic Church spokesman in Nigeria, Reverend Augustine Ikwu, said the bishop and priests from the parish had survived the attack unharmed.
A doctor at a hospital in Owo told Reuters that at least 50 bodies had been brought into two hospitals in the town from the attack. The doctor, who declined to be named because he is not authorised to speak to the press, also said there was a need for blood donations to treat the injured.
Nigeria is still fighting a 12-year-long Islamist insurgency in its northeast and heavily armed criminal gangs often carry out raids and mass kidnappings in the northwest.
But large attacks in the country’s southwest by the groups are relatively rare although kidnappings have become increasingly common.
Boko Haram jihadists in the northeast have targeted churches in the past. The conflict has killed 40,000 and displaced two million more.
The UN Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel, Mahamat Saleh Annadif, condemned what he called a “barbaric terrorist attack.”
– Sources –
