KANO, (AFP) – Gunmen attacked a church in northern Nigeria
during a midnight mass on Christmas Eve, killing six people including the
pastor, before setting the building ablaze, residents and police said
“A group of gunmen came into the village at midnight and
went straight to the church,” said Usman Mansir, a resident of Peri village near
Potiskum, the economic capital of Yobe state.
“They opened fire on them, killing the pastor and five worshipers They then set fire to the church,” he added, specifying that a
branch of the Evangelical Church of West Africa (ECWA) was targetted.
A senior police official in Yobe confirmed the details to
AFP, but declined to be named.
Yobe police chief Sanusi Rufa’i said “this is a security
issue” and refused to comment further.
Boko Haram Islamists have carried out several attacks in
Yobe, which borders the state of Maiduguri, where the insurgent group is based.
The Islamists are blamed for killing hundreds of people in
northern Nigeria since 2009. It was not clear who was behind the latest
violence.
While Yobe’s population is overwhelmingly Muslim, the
commercial hub of Potiskum has a significant Christian minority. Peri is just
two kilometers outside the city.
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