ABUJA: At least 50 people have been killed and others injured after gunmen attacked a Catholic church in Nigeria’s Ondo state during Sunday mass, a doctor and local media reported.
A doctor at the hospital in Owo, a town in the southwestern state of Nigeria, told Reuters that no less than 50 bodies had been moved to FMC (Federal Medical Center) in Owo and St. Louis.
President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the attack, calling it a “crime”. The identities and motives of the attackers were not immediately clarified.
Local media said gunmen opened fire on worshipers and detonated explosives at the church. The dead included women and children.
Funmilayo Ibukun Odunlami, a spokesman for the Ondo state police, said only that there had been an incident at Saint Francis Catholic Church in Owo and said the police would issue an additional statement soon.
Africa’s most populous country has seen attacks and kidnappings for ransom by armed gangs, mainly in its northwest. Such attacks are rare in Southwestern Nigeria.
Ondo State Governor Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu cut short his trip to the capital Abuja and returned to Ondo after the attack. “We will commit all resources available to us to hunt down these attackers and make them pay,” he said in a statement.
FacebookTwitterInstagramKOOKS APPYOUTUBE
