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Gunmen opened fire and detonated explosives at a Catholic church in south-west Nigeria on Sunday, killing at least 50 people – including children – and injuring dozens more before escaping the scene, authorities said.
Nigerian security forces were still on the hunt for the attackers on Monday. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack on St Francis Church in the town of Owo, although analysts believe they may have come from other parts of the West African nation, which has been beset by violence from armed groups, kidnappers and extremists.
FILE: Nigerian soldiers secure the area outside of St. Francis Catholic Church in the town of Owo, Nigeria on Monday June 6, 2022, a day after an attack on worshipers. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
State Police Commissioner Oyeyemi Oyediran said security forces pursued the attackers, “but unfortunately we were unable to catch them.”
“The attack is undoubtedly terrorist in nature and the scale and brutality suggest it was carefully planned and not impulsive,” Eric Humphery-Smith, senior Africa analyst at Verisk Maplecroft Risk Intelligence Company, told The Associated Press.
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Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and other government officials visited the church on Monday. A day earlier he had promised that “we will continue to stand against evil and Nigeria will win”.
A view of St Francis Catholic Church in Owo, Nigeria on Monday June 6, 2022, a day after an attack on worshipers. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Nigeria, which is Africa’s most populous country with more than 200 million people, has been battling an insurgency in the northeast by Islamist extremist rebels from Boko Haram and its offshoot, the Islamic State of West Africa province, for over a decade. The extremists, who have killed more than 35,000 people according to a UN count, are fighting for the introduction of Sharia law and against Western education.
Sunday’s attack came as believers were celebrating Pentecost, a major Catholic holiday after Easter.
Many Nigerians expressed shock and anger at the attack in Owo, a small town of merchants and government employees about 50 kilometers from Akure, the capital of Ondo State. The church’s central location raised questions about how the gunmen got there unnoticed.
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Employees at the federal hospital in Owo struggled to treat numerous casualties from the attack. The Nigeria Medical Association directed all available doctors in the area to help.
Vigilantes stand guard outside the St. Louis Catholic Hospital in the city of Owo, Nigeria, Monday, June 6, 2022 (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Mahamat Saleh Annadif, head of the United Nations Office for West Africa and the Sahel, said he hoped “the perpetrators of this horrific terrorist attack against a church will be quickly arrested and brought to justice”.
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Pope Francis condemned “this act of unspeakable violence” in a telegram of condolence sent on his behalf by the Vatican Secretary of State to the Bishop of Ondo.
“His Holiness prays for the conversion of those blinded by hatred and violence to choose the path of peace and righteousness instead,” it said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.