A still undetermined number of people were killed by gunmen in a Catholic church in Nigeria during the Pentecost Mass on Sunday June 5, with Pope Francis lamenting the death of “dozens of worshipers”.
This massacre occurs in a region usually spared by jihadists and criminal gangs active in other regions of the country. “The Pope learned of the attack [survenue] at the church in Ondo, Nigeria, and the death of dozens of worshippers, including many children, during the celebration of Pentecost”the Vatican press service said in a statement. “As the details of the incident are being clarified, Pope Francis prays for the victims and for the country, painfully affected during a moment of celebration, and entrusts them to the Lord, so that he sends his Spirit to comfort them.he added.
A balance to be determined
“It is still early to say exactly how many people have been killed. But many worshipers lost their lives while others were injured in the attack”, state police spokeswoman Ibukun Odunlami told Agence France-Presse (AFP). A witness, who gave only his first name, Abayomi, said at least 20 worshipers died in the attack. “I was passing through the neighborhood when I heard a loud explosion and gunshots inside the church”he said.
He said he saw at least five armed men inside the church before fleeing. Ondo State Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu in his statement called on security forces to find the attackers after the incident. “despicable and satanic attack”. According to the state police spokeswoman, they attacked the church with firearms and explosives.
A region hitherto spared
The attack comes on the eve of the ruling APC party launching its primaries ahead of the 2023 presidential election to succeed Muhammadu Buhari, a former army commander who will step down after two terms . Security remains a major challenge in Africa’s most populous country, which is also the continent’s largest economy.
Attacks on religious sites are particularly sensitive in Nigeria, where tensions are sometimes exacerbated between the communities of a country whose South is mainly Christian and North mainly Muslim. This type of attack, however, is rare in the relatively peaceful southwest of the country.
The Nigerian army, on the other hand, faces many hotbeds of insecurity in the rest of the country. A jihadist insurgency has been raging for twelve years in the North-East, gangs of looters and kidnappers have terrorized the North-West and the Center, and the South-East is the scene of separatist movements.
The jihadist group Boko Haram, present in the northeast of the country, has already targeted churches during a conflict that has left 40,000 dead and 2 million displaced in Nigeria.