Gunmen killed eight people and kidnapped 38 others in an attack on churches in Nigeria’s northern Kaduna state last Sunday, an official with the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) said on Monday. weeks after a similar lethal attack in the southwest of the country.
The attack took place during morning worship at two churches, one Catholic and one Baptist, on Sunday, Reverend Danlami Gajere, president of the Association for Kasuwan Magani in Kaduna State, told Reuters by telephone.
The state police spokesperson and Kaduna’s commissioner for homeland security did not initially respond to a request for comment.
Two weeks ago, men armed with AK-47 rifles and explosives attacked St. Francis in the town of Owo, killing 40 people. The government suspects the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) rebel group. But the ISWAP did not claim responsibility for the attack.
Armed gangs abound in northwest Nigeria, where they rob and kidnap for ransom, and violence has escalated, with overstretched security forces often unable to stop the attacks.
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