Gunmen kill scores of worshippers at Catholic Church in Ondo State-Nigeria
5th June 2022
Blood thirsty gunmen have killed church goers on Sunday at the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State of South West Nigeria.
Bandits wielding guns entered the St Francis Church and opened indiscriminately on worshippers killing scores of persons.
They have reportedly kidnapped the priest whilst other church members were also kidnapped and sent away.
No official figures have been put out but according to reports more than 50 church goers incuding men, women and children have been killed while several others have also sustained gunshot wounds.
Nigeria has been a hot bed of violence in recent times with most of them bordering on religious killings.
Last month a group of Muslim youth in Sokoto State stoned to death their colleague student Deborah Samuels for alleged blasphemy against Prophet Mohammed.
Kidnappings and other violent attacks have been on the rise in Africa's most populous country which has sharp tribal and religious divide.
But a doctor at a local hospital, quoted by the Reuters news agency, said that "several worshippers were brought in dead". After visiting the church and hospital, state lawmaker Ogunmolasuyi Oluwole told the Associated Press news agency that children were among the dead.
Ondo state Governor Rotimi Akeredolu called it a "vile and satanic attack" on innocent people . He appealed for calm urging people not to take the law into their own hands.
"The assailants will be hunted down and they will pay for their crimes," he added in a message sent after being briefed at the scene.
"No matter what, this country shall never give in to evil and wicked people," President Buhari said in a statement. He is in the final year of his two-term presidency and has been criticised for failing to get to grips with the country's security problems.
Exactly a week ago the head of the Methodist Church in Nigeria was abducted along with two other clerics in the south-east of the country.
The Methodist prelate said he paid $240,000 (£190,000) to be freed with his companions.
Two weeks ago, two Catholic priests were kidnapped in Katsina, President Muhammadu Buhari's home state in the north of the country. They have not been released.
In March, gunmen targeted the vital rail link between Abuja and the northern city of Kaduna killing at least nine people and kidnapping dozens of others, many of whom are still being held.