Worshippers killed during church service in Nigeria | News

Attackers targeted the St Francis Catholic Church in southwestern Ondo state just as people gathered on Sunday.

Gunmen opened fire on worshippers at a Catholic church in southwestern Nigeria and also detonated explosives. Dozens are feared dead including children.

Lawmaker Ogunmolasuyi Oluwole said the attackers targeted the St Francis Catholic Church in Ondo state just as people gathered on Sunday.

Among the dead were many children, said Oluwole, who visited the scene and also the hospital in Owo – a town in the state – where many of the wounded are being treated.

Ondo Governor Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu said he was heading back to the state from the capital Abuja after the “unprovoked attack and killing of innocent people of Owo”.

“We shall commit every available resource to hunt down these assailants and make them pay,” he said in a statement.

While much of Nigeria has struggled with security issues, Ondo is widely known as one of the country’s most peaceful states.

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