At least 50 people including women and children were killed in southwestern Nigeria after gunmen opened fire on worshippers and detonated explosives at a Catholic church on Sunday, reported Reuters.
The attackers targeted the St. Francis Catholic Church in Ondo state just as the worshippers gathered on Pentecost Sunday.
Funmilayo Ibukun Odunlami, police spokesperson for Ondo state said the gunmen shot at people outside and inside the church building, killing and injuring worshippers.
She did not say how many people were killed or injured in the attack but added that the Nigeria police were investigating the cause of the attack and the people behind it. No militant group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
“Our hearts are heavy,” Ondo Governor Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu tweeted Sunday. “Our peace and tranquility have been attacked by the enemies of the people.”
Akeredolu, who visited the scene of the attack and injured persons in the hospital, described Sunday’s incident as a great massacre that should not happen again. The identity and motive of the attackers currently remain unclear. He appealed to the security forces to track down the assailants.
Catholic Church spokesman in Nigeria, Reverend Augustine Ikwu, said the bishop and priests from the parish had survived the attack unharmed.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the attack, calling it a heinous killing of worshippers.
“No matter what, this country shall never give in to evil and wicked people and darkness will never overcome the light,” he said.
Nigeria is struggling to control an Islamist insurgency in the northeast. Armed militant groups continue to carry out attacks and kidnappings for ransom, mostly in the northwest. However, such attacks are rare in the southwestern part.
Ondo is among one of Nigeria’s most peaceful states. The state, though, has been caught up in a rising violent conflict between farmers and herders.
