Twelve Killed In Church Shooting

Twelve worshippers were shot dead at a church in southeast Nigeria yesterday, with authorities suggesting the bloodshed was due to a local feud.
At around 6:00 am (0500 GMT), at least one gunman opened fire at St. Philip’s Church in Ozubulu, near the city of Onitsha, unleashing terror on the congregation.
Chukwuma Emeka said he had just stepped out of the church to stretch his legs “when I heard gunshots and screaming and people running inside.”
“When the chaos subsided, I went inside, I saw my fellow church members dead in a pool of their own blood and many others were screaming in pain.”
Attacks on churches are rare in southern Nigeria, where there is a predominantly Christian population.
Nigeria’s mainly-Muslim North has been gripped by a violent campaign by Boko Haram jihadists, who specialise in targeting religious centres.
There were varying accounts of what happened in Ozubulu. Witnesses said five gunmen in masks stormed the church, but police said the killing was the work of a lone shooter.
“So far, 12 persons have been confirmed dead and deposited in the mortuary here,” a worker at Nnamdi Azikwe University Teaching Hospital said.
Several worshippers with gunshot wounds were also receiving treatment at the hospital, the source said. Witnesses said they feared that up to 20 people may have died.
Garba Umar, Anambra State police Commissioner, said the attacker was a gunman who “went on a shooting spree, killing and wounding” worshippers.
He said the violence was the result of a failed murder attempt, tied to a feud within the local community.
“The information at the disposal of the police is that the gunman had been hired to kill a particular family person believed to be among the worshippers,” he said.
Local rights activist, Emeka Umeagbalasi said his information about the motive largely concurred with that of the police version.
“The gunmen had gone to kill the son of a local chief but failed to find him at his home”, Umeagbalasi said.
The attackers then went to the church to hunt for him, but could not find the intended target and became angry”, he said.
They opened “fire on parishioners and shot indiscriminately,” he said, adding that the father of the intended target was shot and wounded.
Speaker of Nigeria’s House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara called the attack “barbaric and the height of wickedness.”
He extended his condolences to families of the victims, assuring them that the government would do everything within its power to track down those responsible.
Hundreds of churches and mosques in Nigeria’s north have been attacked since 2009 when Boko Haram began a violent campaign to impose strict Islamic law.
The rebellion has killed at least 20,000 people and forced some 2.6 million others to flee their homes, sparking a dire humanitarian crisis in the northeast.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the Ozubulu Church attack in Anambra State by a yet to be identified gunmen, describing the incident as “an appalling crime against humanity and unspeakable sacrilege.”
Expressing his grief in a strongly worded statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, President Buhari said that “there was no justification whatsoever to target church worshippers and kill them in cold blood.”
He said this kind of atrocity “plumbs the depth of depravity and extreme cruelty of the kind that words cannot adequately express.”
According to the President, there is no religion that does not lay constant emphasis on the sanctity of life, and that “all Nigerians must rise up and speak with one voice against these remorseless evil men.
“ While expressing his deep felt sympathy with the families of the victims, the church leadership and the government of Anambra State, President Buhari  reassured all Nigerians of his administration’s firm and uncompromising commitment to protect their lives and property at all times.
Similarly, Senator Andy Uba has condemned in strong terms the shooting and killing of worshippers at the St. Philip’s Catholic Church, Ozubulu in Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra state.
In a statement issued by his media aide, Joseph Itazi, Sen. Uba who visited the scene of the incidents said that people of Anambra were not known for such violence.
He called on the commissioner of Police and the state governor to ensure that the perpetrators of such dastardly act are brought to book.
Uba who was very emotional, also donated an undisclosed amount of money to add to the treatment of the victims. “Such acts cannot be tolerated in Anambra: for worshippers to be slaughtered during mass is something that we must not allow in this state.
“I call on the state governor and the commissioner of police to immediately swing into action to root out those who killed these innocent worshippers”. “My heart goes out to the families of the diseased.
“Although it is a sad event, we must take solace that having been martyred in the church, the deceased would have gone to a better place,” he said. Speaking with the victims at Access Specialist Hospital and Maternity, Ozubulu and Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Senator Andy Uba expressed deep shock and added that this kind of heartless evil must not be allowed to fester in Anambra State.
“We must not allow such to continue: our people cannot be allowed to be snatched by the cold hands of death due to the activities of recalcitrant members of our society.