The attack by a group of armed men against a Catholic church in Nigeria during Sunday mass left at least 21 dead and 40 woundedincluding children, unleashing alarm in the most populous country in Africa.
Richard Olatunde, spokesman for the Ondo state governor’s office, told ‘AFP’ that there was an explosion with dynamite inside the church in the town of Owo before armed men opened fire through the windows while a mass was being celebrated.
On Monday, huge bloodstains were still on the tiles, walls and wooden seats of the church, testimony to the violence of the massacre, according to an ‘AFP’ journalist at the scene.
The attack took place during morning mass at the San Francisco Catholic Church in the town of Owo, located in the southwest of the country, a region where jihadist and criminal gang attacks are rare.
(Also read: Sloviansk and its importance for Russian forces in Ukraine).
After the massacre on Sunday, Pope Francis lamented on Monday the death of “dozens of faithful, including many children, during the celebration of Pentecost“, the Christian holiday that celebrates the coming of the Holy Spirit, indicated its press service in a statement.
In a telegram addressed to the bishop of Ondo, the Vatican indicated that the pontiff feels “a deep sadness” for “the horrible attack,” Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin said. The pope told “all those affected by this unspeakable act of violence your spiritual closeness“, he added.
The attack occurred during the celebration of Pentecost in that Catholic church in the Ondo State, little affected so far by jihadist attacks and criminal gangs, active in other regions of the country. Ibukun Odunlami, a police spokesman in the Ondo region, told ‘AFP’ that the assailants entered the church with firearms and explosives.
Father Andrew Abayomi, who was leading the mass, explained to ‘AFP’ that the faithful managed to close the door of the church and he was able to hide with others, including children, in the sacristy for 20 minutes before leaving: “I’ve seen some dead, a woman shot under the bus“.
Another survivor, Bade Salawu, recalls his disbelief upon hearing gunshots inside the temple: “They didn’t come to steal anything, they didn’t come to kidnap anyone… Their goal was only to kill and destroy.”
(Read more: A shooting in Philadelphia leaves three dead and 11 injured in the United States).
“I was passing through the neighborhood when I heard a loud explosion and shots inside the church“, explained another witness named Abayomi, who was able to see at least five attackers in the church before fleeing.
The governor of Ondo state, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, urged security forces in a statement to find the perpetrators of this “dastardly and satanic attack.”
Numerous pockets of violence
At the moment, those responsible and the motivations for the attack, described by the Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari, as “a hateful murder of faithful” are unknown.
The attack occurs just before his party, the APC, launches its primaries to designate a candidate for the 2023 presidential elections, which will mean the end of the mandate of this former military commander.
Security is a major challenge in Africa’s most populous country and the continent’s largest economy. Attacks on religious sites are especially sensitive and increase tension in Nigeria, which is predominantly Christian in the south and Muslim in the north.
These types of actions are not common in the Southwest, normally exempt from the violence that shakes other parts of the country. Instead, for 12 years, the security forces have faced a jihadist insurrection in the northeast of the country, while criminal groups commit mass kidnappings in the northwest and center, and separatist groups operate in the southeast.
More news
The story of the fake doctor who let his patient die of a heart attack
2 Colombian women arrested at Panamanian airport with ‘narco wigs’
AFP
#killed #atrocious #attack #Catholics #mass #Nigeria