During Sunday mass, gunmen broke into St. Francis Catholic Church.< /strong>
In southwestern Nigeria, gunmen attacked a Catholic church during mass on Sunday, killing at least 50 people, including women and children.
< p>Reuters reports this.
The attackers shot at people on the street and inside the church building.
The identity and motives of the attackers could not be immediately established. Law enforcers are investigating the cause of the attack.
The state governor, who visited the site of the attack and the injured in the hospital, called Sunday's incident a “big massacre” that cannot be repeated.
“It is so sad that in during Holy Mass, unknown gunmen attacked the Catholic Church of St. Francis … as a result of which many were killed and injured, and the church was subjected to violence, “said the representative of the Catholic Church in Nigeria, Rev. Augustine Ikwu.
He also noted that the bishop and priests remained safe and sound.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the attack, calling it “heinous”, and the Vatican said that Pope Francis is praying for the victims, who “suffered painfully at the time of worship “.
Nigeria is fighting an Islamist insurgency in the northeast and armed gangs carrying out attacks and kidnappings for ransom, mainly in the northwest of the country. But in the southwest, such attacks are rare.
Recall that in Nigeria a student was stoned and burned for “blasphemy”.
