Radio TNT 102.5 FM

There was pandemonium at Saint Francis Catholic Church, Owa-luwa Street, Owo,  the headquarters of the Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State as gunmen attacked the church on Sunday.

The attack on the church in Owo,  the hometown of the state Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, came barely a week after the Prelate of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, Bishop Samuel Kanu-Uche, was kidnapped in Abia State by gunmen the priest later identified as Fulani youths.

It was learnt the gunmen, who attacked the Catholic church, arrived at the premises, which is less than 200 metres from the palace of the Olowo of Owo, at 12pm when the Sunday mass was being rounded off.

REPORT gathered that worshippers, mostly children and women, were killed in the attack, by gunmen, who were said to have thrown an improvised explosive device before they started shooting sporadically.

A 37-second video posted online showed some of the slain worshippers in a pool of blood.

Workers of the Federal Medical Centre and Saint Louis Hospital, both in Owo, where the dead and the injured were taken to, told one of our correspondents that a total of 35 people were brought in dead.

But the state police command told NEWSMEN at 8:30pm that it was still compiling the casualty figure. Also, the church and the state government did not specify the casualty figure.

Both Reuters and Voice of America reported on Sunday that over 50 people were killed in the attack.

However, a resident of the area, who identified himself as Olabamiji, said the attack was carried out by gunmen who disguised as worshippers before entering the church’s premises.

According to him, immediately they entered the church premises, they threw an IED before shooting the congregants.

He said, “We saw them.  They didn’t cover their faces. Initially, we thought that they were going into the church for the service, not knowing that they were gunmen. Suddenly, we heard gunshots.  They directed the gun at everyone, particularly women and children.

“While the attack lasted, we did not see any security operative to confront the gunmen. We could not even count their number because everybody had to run for safety.”