GUNMEN KILL 16 DURING CHURCH SERVICE

Gunmen Kill 16 At Deeper Life Church during Service: It was like a scene from a war film. A crowd of worshippers in a church — perhaps praying, their eyes shut — and suddenly the eerie sounds of guns. Pandemonium; blood; tears; and anguish. But it was no movie. All was real last night in Okene, Kogi State where unknown gunmen stormed a church and opened fire on worshippers, killing no fewer than 16. Killed were worshippers of Deeper Life Bible Church opposite the Federal College of Education (FCE). Many were injured.  “We are shocked. It is serious,” a Pastor said last night. The gunmen, who were said to be bearing sophisticated weapons, stormed the church during the Bible Study, a Monday programme, at about 7p.m., shooting indiscriminately.

 

The gunmen reportedly took the worshippers by surprise. They blocked all entrances into the church, preventing people from escaping as they fired indiscriminately at the worshippers. A source said 15 worshippers died on the spot; one died in the hospital. “As I am talking to you now, we have just counted 16 bodies. No fewer than nine others have been rushed to the Okene General Hospital Okene,” the source said. Among the dead was the local government area Pastor, according to a source who spoke in Lagos where news of the incident sent members into a shock. One of the injured is the Dean of Student Affairs of the FCE: The Nation, Page 1