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Gunmen attacked a Catholic church in southwestern Nigeria during Sunday mass, killing at least 50 people, including women and children, according to a hospital doctor and media reports.
As worshipers gathered on Pentecost Sunday at St. Francis Catholic Church in Ondo state, Nigeria, assailants opened fire outside and inside the building, killing at least 50 people. Among the dead were women and many children, lawmaker Ogunmolasuyi Oluwole said.
The identity and motive of the gunmen were not immediately clear and police are investigating the cause of the attack.
“Our hearts are heavy,” Ondo Governor Rotimi Akeredolu tweeted on Sunday. “Our peace and tranquility have been attacked by the enemies of the people.”
It is a black Sunday in Owo. Our hearts are heavy. Our peace and tranquility have been attacked by the enemies of the people. This is a personal loss, an attack on our dear state.
— Arakunrin Akeredolu (@RotimiAkeredolu) June 5, 2022
Pope Francis “prays for the victims”
“It is very sad that while the Holy Mass was taking place, unknown armed men attacked the Catholic Church of San Francisco … leaving many dead and many injured and the Church violated,” said the spokesman for the Catholic Church in Nigeria, the Rev. Augustine Ikwu.
In Rome, Pope Francis responded to the news of the attack during the celebration of Pentecost, the day on which Catholics commemorate the descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles.
“While the details of the incident are being clarified, Pope Francis prays for the victims and for the country, painfully affected in a moment of celebration, and entrusts both to the Lord, so that he may send his Spirit to comfort them,” he added in a brief statement. .
A strange incident in one of the most peaceful states of Nigeria
Nigeria struggles with security problems such as bandit attacks and mass kidnappings for lucrative ransoms, especially in the center and northwest of the country. But Ondo is widely known as one of the most peaceful states, making this incident a rare occurrence.
However, the state has been embroiled in a growing violent conflict between farmers and herders. Also, the southeast of the country has recently been the scene of serious kidnappings and murders.
The authorities attribute these crimes to the separatists of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a group that advocates the secession of that territory.
Added to this insecurity is the jihadist threat that has plagued the northeast of the country since 2009 caused by the Boko Haram group and since 2015 its ISWAP (Islamic State in West Africa Province) faction.
With AP, EFE and Reuters
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