Over 50 dead in church attack in Nigeria

GOOBJOOG NEWS|LAGOS: At least 50 people were killed and others injured after gunmen attacked a Catholic church in Nigeria’s Ondo state during mass on Sunday, a doctor and local media reported.

A doctor at a hospital in Owo, a town in the state in Nigeria’s southwest, told Reuters that no fewer than 50 bodies had been moved to the FMC (Federal Medical Center) in Owo and to St. Louis Catholic Hospital.

President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the attack, calling it “heinous.” The identity and motive of the attackers was not immediately clear.

Local media said gunmen had fired at worshippers and detonated explosives at the church, with the majority of those killed being women and children.

Africa’s most populous country has witnessed attacks and kidnappings for ransom by armed gangs, mostly in its northwest with such attacks rare in southwestern Nigeria.