KANO, Nigeria: Gunmen attacked a church in volatile northern Nigeria during a Christmas Eve service, killing six people including the pastor, before setting the building ablaze, residents and police said yesterday, as the pope deplored “savage acts of terrorism” against Christians in Africa’s most populous nation.
“A group of gunmen came into the village at midnight and went straight to the church,” said Usman Mansir, a resident of Peri village near Potiskum, the economic capital of Yobe. “They opened fire on them, killing the pastor and five worshippers. They then set fire to the church,” he added, specifying that a branch of the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) was targeted. Residents reported that the gunmen also set fire to several of the homes surrounding the church.
Afp
