Gunmen attack Catholic church, kill priest, worshippers in Burkina Faso

CRIME NEWS

Gunmen attack Catholic church, kill priest, worshippers in Burkina Faso

 

Unknown gunmen have killed six people including a Catholic priest as Mass was being celebrated in a church located in Dablo, northern Burkina Faso.

According to a government statement, the worshippers were attending morning mass when at least 20 men surrounded them and shot six dead.

"These terrorist groups are now attacking religion with the macabre aim of dividing us," the statement said.

"Towards 9 a.m. during mass, armed individuals burst into the Catholic Church," the mayor of Dablo, Ousmane Zongo said. "They started firing as the congregation tried to flee."

The attackers then burned down the church, a shop, two vehicles, and also looted a health centre.

No one has claimed responsibility for the church attack, but fighters affiliated to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group, as well as the local Ansarul Islam, have been active in the region, according to BBC.

Last month, attackers targeted a Protestant church in the town of Silgadji, killing at least six people and earlier in April, four people died when a Catholic church was attacked in a nearby village, the bishop of Dori in northern Burkina Faso told Vatican news agency Fides.

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Benue Killings: Osinbajo Reacts To The Murder Of Rev Fathers, Others

​BREAKING NEWS

Benue Killings: Osinbajo Reacts To The Murder Of Rev Fathers, Others

The Federal Government has vowed to deal with those attacking and killing worshippers in churches and mosques across the country.

Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, those who are hell bent on making the nation ungovernable would soon face the wrath of law.

Prof. Osinbajo stated this on Tuesday at the inauguration of the Headquarters building and auditorium of the Deeper Life Bible Church in Gbagada, Lagos.

According to the Vice President, “It is not only a heinous sacrilege but high wickedness to kill persons in a place of worship. It is evident that the devil’s bigger agenda is to stoke up a religious conflict in Nigeria, one such as will make it impossible for anyone to preach the gospel or even for Muslims to worship in their mosques.”

“Citing examples of the recent attacks on worship places in Borno and Benue states, Prof. Osinbajo said the Federal Government was working on arresting the situation and urged all Nigerians to be calm and remain focused on the teachings of their faith.”

He added that “while the security agencies continue to work relentlessly to hunt down the perpetrators of these evil acts, we all must not lose focus.”

“The President has mandated that I take up those cases with the specific State and local authorities, the right to freedom of worship is also the right to build places of worship.

“While the security agencies continue to work relentlessly to hunt down the perpetrators of these evil acts and to bring a permanent end to all of the killings going on in the name of herdsmen, Boko Haram, or in any other name, we as a body of Christ must not lose focus.

“The enemy wants us to stand on our pulpits and preach hate, we will not. We will obey the Lord Jesus Christ who said that we must love our enemies and pray even for those who persecute us. No person born or yet to be born, can stop the march of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed as the Word of God says, this Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

                                                  

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Herdsmen Killings: Muslim Group Condemns The Murder Of Rev Fathers, Parishioners In Benue

​BREAKING NEWS

Herdsmen Killings: Muslim Group Condemns The Murder Of Rev Fathers, Parishioners In Benue

 

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), has in strong terms condemned the attack on St. Ignatius Catholic Church, Ayar-Mbalom in Gwer East Local Government Area of Benue State, yesterday, which led to the death of 19 persons, including two Catholic priests, Joseph Gor and Felix Tyolaha.

The group, while condemning the wanton waste of human lives, described the attack as wicked, repulsive and barbaric.

Herdsmen in two separate attacks in Guma and Gwer East on Tuesday butchered no fewer than 50 persons and set over 70 houses on fire.

Professor Ishaq Akintola, Director, MURIC, in a statement issued yesterday called for the arrest of those behind the dastard act.

He said life was sacred and that only Allah the Supreme Creator has the right to freely take what He gave, stressing that, “Therefore, killing for vengeance, religious or ethnic reason is not only primitive but also sinful.”

Akintola said, “Although the attackers also burnt 50 houses and sacked the entire community, we are singling out the vicious attack on the church for strong condemnation. Those who attack the house of God have no single atom of piety in their hearts. They should therefore not expect mercy from Allah, the Supreme Creator. They seek to set different ethnic groups and religions at one another’s throats. But they will fail by the Grace of Allah.

“We are constrained to observe that most of the killings around the Middle Belt area are ignited by hate speech. We therefore appeal to Nigerians to exercise caution in their utterances, to respect human life, tolerate and forgive one another. Every peaceful community is a round hole whereas vengeance is a square peg. It is therefore an alien instrument designed to cause commotion.

“We charge the Inspector General of Police to bring the killers of the worshippers in St. Ignatius Catholic Church to book. We implore the Federal Government to do everything possible to stop the carnage in the country, particularly in Benue and Taraba.”

                                                  

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