Bloodbath On Sabbath Day: How Gunmen Kill Worshippers In Kogi Church

Bloodbath On Sabbath Day: How Gunmen Kill Worshippers In Kogi Church

Moving in deathly herds, the blood-thirsty squad invaded Celestial Church of Christ, Blood of Jesus Parish, Felele Lokoja like a storm cloud split by snaky thunderbolts. The heavily armed men stormed the community and went straight to the Church and pumped hot bullets into the Church killing two worshipers.

Felele is a relatively peaceful town on the outskirts of Lokoja, the capital of Kogi State. Apart from the frequent road traffic accident as a result of reckless driving on the part of heavy-duty vehicle drivers that have over the years, led to the death of many people with others sustaining life-threatening injuries. Insecurity has never been an issue in the town despite being located along the ever-busy Okene-Abuja highway.

Just like every other day, residents of Felele in Lokoja Local Government Area were rounding off activities of the day when heavily armed men stormed the Community, heading straight to the Church 105 kilometers (65 miles) from Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, where they invaded the church, leaving a woman and her daughter in cold blood.

The above scenario described what has become of the once peaceful town with its sacred place of reverence desecrated with the blood of pious souls and innocent persons.

It is so unfortunate that those who were not at the church at that time have been praising God that they did not go to church while those who escaped the carnage by whiskers are now filled with regrets as they narrate their experience in sordid and gory details.

The memories of the black Sunday evening remain fresh in the hearts of the leaders and members of the Church who said the sad event still appears like the scene of a movie to them. An eyewitness account stated that the gunmen stormed the church on five motorcycles and started shooting sporadically.

When our correspondent visited the church, the shepherd in charge of CCC Blood of Jesus Parish, Superior Evangelist Iraese Monday, could not hold back his tears as he conducted the crew around the bullet-ridden church premises.

The doors, windows, walls, and the roof of the church buildings were ridden with bullet holes including the pulpit and speakers that were placed at different points inside the church. The gory view of the bloodstain on the floor and the narration by the eyewitnesses are similar to the attack on the Catholic Church in Owo, Ondo State, South-West Nigeria.

The clergyman while narrating the sad ordeal said, “On Sunday after the service, at about 8:00 pm, the gunmen stormed the Church and started shooting sporadically into the air. I peeped through the window and I saw fire burning inside the church. At that point, I had to lie down on the floor. After about 15 minutes, I discovered that the gunshots had reduced, I looked through the window and I found two of my children crawling towards my house with bullet wounds.”

The clergyman added that he has been in the community for over 11 years and he had never experienced any attack even when the church location was surrounded by bushes without any house around the church.

He explained that apart from the deceased female worshipper and her daughter, his son, daughter and another church member are still in the hospital. He said they are gradually responding to treatment as a result of a severe bullet wound at sensitive parts of their body.

The youth president of the church, Mr. Lucky Ibrahim, who described the incident as tragic said the motorcycle-riding assailants arrived the Church premises with five motorcycles and opened fire on the church building as well as the people around.

Lucky added that each motorcycle was carrying three armed persons. He said they started shooting sporadically at the people and the church immediately after they alighted from the motorcycle. He said he ran to a cassava farm where he was watching the armed men rain bullets on the church building.

The eyewitness added that they made several attempts to burn down the church building with a 20 litres keg of petrol that they came with but they succeeded in burning down the altar area and some valuable properties including traveling documents of the shepherd and other worship equipment worth millions of naira.

On her part, 58-year-old Iyabo Oheda, who resides adjacent to the Church, narrated how stray bullets flew into her house through the wall and the roof.

She explained that “on that Sunday, we sat down in our sitting room when I heard gunshots. I took my children to hide inside a room. Bullets were penetrating the walls of my house but I thank God it was not entering the room where we were hiding.

Iyabo added that upon hearing the news of the attack, her relatives came to take her away from the environment for fear of another attack. It was the crew’s visit that made the shepherd of the church realize that several houses that were built around the church were carrying bullet holes.

Speaking with the Lokoja Local Government coordinator of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Dr. John Babatunde, explained that they had received the report of the attack on the Church.

Babatunde who is a clergyman said, “We have advised Churches to beef up security in and around the church and put measures in place to ensure the safety of worshippers within and around the church.”

He added that such a deadly attack will not stop the people from going to the church for prayers and worship.

Babatunde also advised churches to request security personnel including the Police, NSCDC, and the local vigilantes to avert the reoccurrence of such deadly attacks.

A visit to the residence of the deceased triggered another round of wailing and flow of tears as sympathizers were still trooping into their residence to condole with them over the death of their loved ones.

It was revealed that the husband of the deceased who is not a member of the church was called by the state Police Command to come and retrieve the corpse of his wife and daughter for onward burial.

The uncontrollable tears on the face of the deceased husband make it difficult for him to speak  but the only word on the lips of Mr Daniel Usman is that “I never knew that they will not come back to me alive.”

It was also said that the deceased woman was never a member of the church but she went there for prayers.

Samson Irease, a member of the church also confirmed that the woman came to the church for prayers and she stayed back with her daughter after the prayer but she, unfortunately, fell victim to the attack.

A youth leader in the community, Joe Peku, said that it remains a surprise to them that despite the efforts put in place by their community to ensure safety and security, such attacks could still be launched in the community.

Joe said that the Pastor is a member of their Community Development Association and he always identifies with them. He described Monday as a peace lover who accommodates all members of the community regardless of their religion or tribe.

The Community Leader Mallam Adamu Koto said the entire community is still in shock as they are just recovering from the trauma caused by the attack.

Koto said that the attack on the church is an attack on the entire community.

The community leader added that the relationship between the church and the community makes it very hard to go over the trauma.

He explained that they have a coordinated security system that is being followed and they also contribute monthly security levy.

Koto confirmed that the Celestial Church has been sited in the community for over eleven years without any record of such an attack.

Meanwhile, a human rights group, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has condemned the attack.

The rights group said that Kogi State is becoming a hotbed of terrorist actions, targeting citizens because the government has done nothing significant to deal decisively with such criminal acts of terrorism targeting a significant percentage of her citizens.

The national coordinator of HURIWA, Emmanuel Onwubiko, expressed sadness at the attack and also condemned the arson attacks targeting the complex of the Kogi State House of Assembly.

Condemning the spate of attacks on Churches in the state, HURIWA asked the Kogi State government to put measures in place to stamp out the attacks on places of worship.

“We call on the Kogi State governor to stop playing with the crucial issue of security and settle down to the arduous task of delivering his most primary duty to the good people of Kogi State, which is to protect the life and property of the citizens,” the rights group said.

The police public relations officer, William Ovye Aya, who confirmed the incident said they’ve commenced investigation to unravel the cause of the attack with a view to arrest the perpetrators.

In another development, the Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), formerly known as Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād, has confirmed that it attacked a church in Kogi State. The attack was the sixth to be claimed by the group in the state in the last six months.

According to Zagazola Makama, a Counter Insurgency Expert, ISWAP said its men were behind the attack. ISWAP reportedly has a camp inside Okene forest from where it is coordinating attacks in Kogi State.

The terrorists have intensified attacks on soft targets, especially churches located in isolated communities following their inability to launch attacks on military formations in Kogi State.