The attack, carried out by an armed commando, occurred in the San Francisco church, in the city owo of the state Ondoy It also left an unspecified number of injured, some of them seriously, according to local newspapers The Nation Newspaper and Vanguard News.
At least five people “invaded the church and started shooting” while a mass was being celebrated, and kidnapped the priest and several of the faithful, according to a witness quoted by the BBC website.
The witness stated that he also detonated an explosive and that before and after the assault on the church they shot passers-by around the temple.
The Ondo Police confirmed that there was an “explosion” at the scene, without specifying other details or assigning responsibility for the event, according to the Daily Post newspaper and the ANSA news agency.
This is the first attack against a Catholic church in the south of the country, where the population is mostly Christian, according to the Europa Press agency.
The NGO Afenifere, which defends the interests of the Yoruba ethnic group, said in a statement that it was an attack by Muslim nomadic herdsmen of the Fulani ethnic group.
The attack was “aimed at Governor (of Ondo) Rotimi Akeredolu for his unwavering support for security in Yoruba land,” said the note, according to the Nigerian digital newspaper Punch.
“Terrorists, mostly Fulani foreigners, must be caught and killed by security forces,” the text added.
The Fulani are a nomadic ethnic group of the Islamic religion, dedicated to herding and trading, who often clash violently with local populations, especially Christians.
They stretch from Mauritania to Cameroon and number between six and 19 million people, according to various sources.
The governor said on Twitter that it was a “vile and satanic attack, calculated against the peaceful people of Owo, who have enjoyed relative peace over the years.”
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari expressed his “shock and sadness” at the “heinous” attack and promised “eternal punishment” for the perpetrators “here on earth and beyond.”
“Only soulless people from the underworld could have conceived and perpetrated this vile attack,” he added in a statement, stressing that “no matter what happens, this country will never surrender to the wicked and infamous.”
Source: Ambito
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