11 killed in Nigeria church attack

By on February 3, 2014

NigeriaAt least 11 people were killed in a fresh attack by gunmen on a church in Nigeria’s northeastern state of Adamawa, a local official confirmed here on Sunday.

Ularamu Maina, chairman of Madagali local government area of the northern state, said the attack occurred during a prayer vigil at a rural EYN Church in the Sabon Gari Gemadai ward on Friday night.

According to Maina, the pastor of the church and 10 other congregants lost their lives in the attack.

He said distraught people of the village ran helter-skelter as the attackers stormed the church and shot indiscriminately at worshippers.

Military authorities are yet to issue official statement on the incident and no group has claimed responsibility for it. The attack is believed to be a perpetration of Boko Haram, a sect which proves to be the major security threat in Nigeria since 2009.

Last Sunday, at least nine people were confirmed killed in a similar attack, when gunmen stormed a church at Chakawa Village in the same local government area of the state.

Adamawa, Borno and Yobe — three neighboring states in the restive northeastern region of Nigeria — are under a state of emergency declared by President Goodluck Jonathan eight months ago.

Last month, Nigeria’s newly appointed defense chief Alex Badeh vowed to end the insurgency of Boko Haram by April.

More than 1,500 people, including women and children, had been killed in the five-year insurgency of the sect.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.