Gunmen attacked a church in north-central Nigeria on Tuesday evening, killing two worshippers and kidnapping the pastor along with several congregants.
This assault comes less than two days after a separate mass abduction at a girls’ secondary school in the country’s northwest.
The latest attack targeted the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Oke Isegun branch, in the Eruku community of Kwara State, near the border with Kogi State.
A livestream of the service captured the moment gunfire erupted outside the building, prompting panic as worshippers, including women and children, scrambled for safety.
The footage shows more than five armed men entering the church and searching the premises amid sustained shooting.
Local media report that the attackers opened fire upon entering the building, killing three people on the spot before forcing the pastor and an unconfirmed number of worshippers into the nearby forest.
The community’s traditional leader, Benjamin Ayeoribe, said Eruku has endured multiple bandit incursions in the past three weeks. Despite repeated appeals for government intervention, he said, residents feel abandoned.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, and no ransom demand has been received as at the time of this report. Search and rescue efforts by security agencies and local vigilantes are ongoing.
