Gunmen attack church in Nigeria, killing two and capturing others
Days after 25 girls were kidnapped from a boarding school, authorities and witnesses reported Wednesday that gunmen had stormed a Nigerian church, killing at least two people and capturing the pastor and a few congregants.
With U.S. President Donald Trump scrutinizing the administration and threatening military action over what he claims is Christian persecution, the Tuesday night attack in Eruku, a town in Kwara state in central Nigeria, increases pressure on the government.
President Bola Tinubu ordered additional security to find the attackers in Kwara and postponed a planned travel to South Africa and Angola for G20 and AU-EU summits in order to receive security briefings on the two incidents, according to his office.
His spokeswoman, Bayo Onanuga, stated that the president also instructed the security forces “to do everything possible” to save the schoolgirls who had been “abducted by the bandits” and return them safely to their homes.
ACCOMODING ISLAMIST INSURGENCY
Nicki Minaj, a rapper, called for international action on Tuesday to protect religious freedom. “Christians are being targeted, driven from their homes, and killed” in Nigeria, according to the New York-based artist, who was born in Trinidad, who was speaking at the U.S. delegation to the UN.
An Islamist insurgency in the northeast, kidnappings and murders by armed gangs primarily in the northwest, and fatal conflicts between predominantly Muslim herdsmen and predominantly Christian farmers in the country’s center belt are all problems Nigeria is facing.
Nigeria’s government claims that the United States’ designation of the country as “a country of particular concern” misrepresents its intricate security issues and ignores its attempts to protect religious freedom for all.
According to Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, the Kwara state police spokeswoman, authorities reacted to shooting at approximately 6 p.m. on Tuesday and found that one person had been shot dead inside the church and another in a nearby bush.
Witnesses reported seeing at least three churchgoers dead.
Joseph Bitrus, a parishioner, told Reuters over the phone, “They later rounded up some worshippers, including the pastor, and took them into the bush,” without specifying the number of people who were taken.
CHURCH SERVICE AND VIDEO SHOWS WITH GUNFIRE ERUPTS
According to a local news source’s video, which Reuters confirmed, gunfire broke out during the Christ Apostolic Church service, prompting the congregation to flee. Gunshots are heard as armed guys enter and steal people’s possessions.
According to his spokeswoman, after the church incident, the governor of Kwara requested that additional security personnel be sent out right away.
The girls who were kidnapped by armed men who broke into the mostly Muslim Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in northwest Kebbi state on Monday have not yet been found by the authorities. On Wednesday, it was anticipated that Vice President Kashim Shettima would visit the state to meet with officials and parents.
