Nigeria church: 38 killed in attack during Sunday service

ABUJA. Nigeria — Gunmen with explosives killed at least 38 persons including five children in an attack on a Catholic church in southwestern Nigeria, the Ondo State Catholic Diocese has told The Associated Press.

Some of the dead “were taken to private hospitals and we have not been able to ascertain the number of casualties for that,” said a spokesperson speaking on behalf of Bishop Jude Arogundade of the Ondo Catholic Diocese, suggesting that the death toll could be higher.

Kadiri Olanrewaju, head of Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Services in Ondo, earlier said on Tuesday that 22 bodies were counted at the morgue while two state lawmakers told AP on Sunday that more than 50 were killed in the attack at the St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo town in Ondo state.

Some bodies were taken away by family members for private burials, residents said.

The Catholic church in Ondo verified the names of the 38 persons brought to the Catholic hospital and to the Federal Medical Center, the church’s spokesperson in Ondo told AP.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with 206 million people, has grappled for more than a decade with an insurgency in the northeast by the Islamic extremist rebels of Boko Haram and its offshoot, the Islamic State West Africa Province. The country now is confronted by growing insecurity problems as separatists and pirates are blamed for attacks in the country’s south while armed groups frequently launch deadly attacks in the northwest.

Before the church attack, Ondo had been considered one of Nigeria’s most peaceful states. But now Owo, a small town of traders and government workers located 50 kilometers (31 miles) from the state capital of Akure, is reeling from the violence of the church attack.

Schools and public gathering spots remained closed on Tuesday and many residents stayed at home, residents said.

The Ondo Police Command has not made any arrests yet nor have they confirmed the identities of the attackers, said to be at least…