Faith

Gunmen Kill 19 Christians During Nigerian Church Service

Gunmen Kill 19 Christians During Nigerian Church Service

Photo Credit: AMINU ABUBAKAR/AFP/Getty Images

ABUJA, Nigeria (TheBlaze/AP) — Once again, tragedy has stricken Nigeria. Gunmen fired on a worship service in a church in central Nigeria, killing at least 19 people — including the pastor — and wounding others in a nation often divided by religion, the military said Tuesday.

(Related: Al-Qaeda-Linked Terrorists Attack Police & Burn Schools in Nigeria)

The attack targeted a Deeper Life church in the town of Otite in Kogi state, about 250 kilometers (155 miles) southwest of Nigeria’s capital Abuja. Blood stained the floors of the church as police and soldiers surrounded it Tuesday morning, witnesses said. It was unclear how many people were wounded in the attack Monday night.

The gunmen surrounded the church in the middle of a worship service and opened fire with Kalashnikov assault rifles, military spokesman Lt. Col. Gabriel Olorunyomi said. The church’s pastor was among the dead.

Gunmen Kill 19 Christians During Nigerian Church Service

Photo Credit: RadioXYZOnline.com

Soldiers searched for gunmen through the night, but had made no arrests as of Tuesday morning, Olorunyomi said. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Kogi State police spokesman Simon Ile declined to comment Tuesday about the attack. National Emergency Management Agency spokesman Yushau Shuaib said his agency had dispatched rescuers to the area Tuesday.

Gunmen Kill 19 Christians During Nigerian Church Service

This isn't the first attack on a Nigerian church. In June, there was yet another one. Above, see residents of the Sabongari area in northern Nigerian city of Zaria watch billows of smoke from exposions at the Christ the King Catholic Cathedral following a suicide bomb attack during church service on June 17, 2012. (Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

The attack comes as Nigeria faces continuing attacks from a radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram. Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is sacrilege” in the Hausa language of Nigeria’s Muslim north, has attacked churches in the past, though never as far as south. However, Boko Haram likely carried out a February prison break in the town of Koton-Karifi in Kogi state that freed 119 inmates. That attack mirrored a massive prison break in the northeastern city of Bauchi in September 2010 when Boko Haram freed about 700 inmates.

Boko Haram also has launched suicide car bomb attacks around Abuja in the past. The sect is blamed for more than 660 killings this year alone in Nigeria, according to an Associated Press count.

Nigeria, a nation of more than 160 million people, is largely divided into a Muslim north and Christian south. While members of the two faiths routinely live and work together, as well as intermarry, Boko Haram attacks have increased tensions in the nation over the last year.

Comments (80)

1 2
  • dumoudan
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 12:07pm

    What’s wrong with these Nigerian Muslims? Don’t they know that is the will of Allah and his prophet (pbuh) that Muslims murder fellow Muslims? Inshallah

    Report Post » dumoudan  
  • Mr.Fitnah
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 12:06pm

    Will the Islamophobia never end ?

    Report Post » Mr.Fitnah  
  • LeadNotFollow
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 11:50am

    …
    It’s time for all Christians to unite and take a stand for God.
    Onward Christian soldiers. One of the greatest songs, ever.

    Report Post »  
  • LeadNotFollow
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 11:41am

    …
    The lame-stream liberal media ignores mass murders of Christians.

    Report Post »  
    • muzzleloader
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 1:55pm

      It happens quite often on the continent, so much so it’s not even news anymore.

      Report Post »  
  • breakobamanow
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 11:15am

    We know these things must happen before the second coming of the Son of man, Jesus Christ. Satan, his false prophet, and the Anti-Christ must rule the world. Christians will be persucuted and killed by the millions, for it is written. “Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against their parents and cause them to be put to death.” And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Christ said “do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.”

    Report Post »  
    • Passerby
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 12:59pm

      That’s exactly what the Muslims believe. You are birds of a feather in that respect.

      Report Post » Passerby  
    • littleQueenie
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 2:57pm

      No Passerby,
      Not birds of a feather.

      …Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
      Jesus’s sword is the power of his WORD.

      Report Post »  
    • DYNA
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 3:34pm

      @Passerby

      Your statement reveals the absence of Light in your existence. Spiritually dead people do not even have the capacity to know the Biblical Scriptures as this requires the Holy Spirit for revelation. This revelation is available for those who are in Jesus the Christ.
      Regarding the religions of this world, even satan can appear as an angle of light to those whose minds are limited to their physical senses or flesh.

      @breakobamanow

      There is a distinction between the catching away (rapture) of the saints who are in faith, before the Tribulation, and those who are not . The Holy Spirit filled, made alive in Christ believers are spiritually keeping the anti-Christ suppressed until the end of the church age and then the Tribulation.

      Report Post »  
    • DYNA
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 3:45pm

      @littleQueenie

      Your response to Passerby is more uplifting than mine. The God breathed Word is refreshing.

      Report Post »  
  • mastice
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 11:09am

    We need to stage mass protests… this atrocity cannot go unanswered I tell you! We need to push for a concentrated effort to have all guns banned in Nigeria via the United Nations and some obscure arms treaty. We need to ask ourselves, why do they hate us and send our dear leader over there to heal this rift.

    Blah, blah, blah. You get the story now. (for anyone who can’t see it – that was all sarcasm)

    Report Post » mastice  
    • AccountableAmerican
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 2:54pm

      They have gun control in Nigeria which proves the point that when you make it a crime to own a gun, only criminals will have guns.

      Report Post »  
    • AccountableAmerican
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 2:55pm

      http://www.nigeria-law.org/Firearms%20Act.htm

      Report Post »  
    • Maji
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 3:05pm

      Accountable,
      Do you think if they made all muslims register themselves or better yet“clear themselves”
      with local cleo that these “bad muslims” would be stopped??
      You know pass more “assault muslim” laws!
      Cause you know some look more mencing that others.

      (Yes I know it sounds ridiculous…hence my point.)

      Report Post »  
    • mastice
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 3:45pm

      @AccountableAmerican

      Please read my post again… it was ALL sarcasm. (:

      Report Post » mastice  
  • BrerRabbit
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 10:05am

    Too bad this will not get as much press as the Wisconson lone nuts attack.

    Report Post »  
    • HorseDancer
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 10:42am

      Know why? It’s in Nigeria and not Wisconsin.

      Report Post »  
    • mastice
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 11:14am

      @HorseDancer

      Does that matter? Foreign news agencies sure aren’t being shy about weighing in on what happened in Wisconsin – so why should we ignore what happened to a church in Nigeria.

      Oh, that’s right… those were Christians in Nigeria. No big deal, move along, nothing to see here. Right?

      Report Post » mastice  
    • hover
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 11:18am

      No because they are Christian and we have have a bias, left leaning, anti Christian media in this country!

      Report Post »  
    • HorseDancer
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 11:23am

      MASTICE and HOVER . . . Wrong on both counts. It‘s because Americans like you simply don’t care about or even acknowledge the rest of the world unless it’s something like this that suits your political agenda. You know it’s true. For god‘s sake Fox News was criticizing our Olympic team for wearing uniforms that weren’t red,white and blue enough. That’s the kind of jingoistic nonsense that drives conservatives and American Christians. You want the truth, there it is. Deal.

      Report Post »  
    • FNGRNFAN
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 12:24pm

      Lets take there guns that will fix it.

      Report Post » FNGRNFAN  
    • Duddio
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 4:28pm

      Horse,
      FOXNews criticized the Olympic uniforms because they were made in China, not for the colors… hello?

      As to what Americans care about, google Sam Childers, the Machine Gun Preacher. He’s an American Pastor who started an orphanage in South Sudan, he routinely fights (with a gun) against Kony’s LRA savages who kidnap, rape and murder children.

      He is one of the most aggressive of thousands of American and European missionaries who try to feed, house, clothe, and educate the people of Africa, while raising the money to do it themselves. Most support for foreign feeding programs and orphanages come from average Americans who DO care enough to send the money or food or even go over themselves to help build a home or school.

      Your comments reek of ignorance, and reveal your own mindset. Just because YOU don’t care about Nigerians, doesn’t mean all of us are so callous.

      Just sayin….

      Report Post »  
    • HorseDancer
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 6:46pm

      DUDDO . . . Wrong all over. It wasn’t about China. Here you go. Enjoy:

      http://thegrio.com/2012/08/06/black-radio-host-criticizes-gabby-douglas-for-not-wearing-flag-themed-leotard/

      Report Post »  
  • Treaty
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 9:57am

    Islam: The religion of peace.

    Report Post » Treaty  
  • abwehragent
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 9:55am

    Anyone who still believes Islam is a religion of peace is hopelessly deluded. Take the time to read the four ‘holiest’ books of Islam. Keep in mind the doctrine of last mention: the most recent writing on an issue takes precedence over all previous writings. If you haven’t the time, read Walid Shoebat’s “God’s Warn on Terror.” Study his background as a Moslem terrorist with a trained-in hatred of Jews and Christians. The ‘holy’ goal of every Moslem is to take over the entire world and convert all to Islam or kill them. And inevitably the five sects of islam even turn on each other. I urge the western world to wake up and smell the coffee before it is too late. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!

    Report Post » abwehragent  
  • Tigress1
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 9:49am

    Maybe we all should take to the streets, burn the Nigerian flag, and demand that they change THEIR laws?

    Report Post » Tigress1  
  • SamIamTwo
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 9:29am

    It’s OK, they are just Christians…:SIGH:

    Muslims and atheist have killed more than any one group of people…collectively they are evil.

    Report Post » SamIamTwo  
  • term limits for congress
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 9:04am

    How are we going to pin this on Michelle Bachman?

    Report Post »  
    • joanct
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 9:22am

      You would have to report on it first, and why would anything be said against the religion of peace?

      Report Post »  
  • Thatsitivehadenough
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 9:01am

    I’m so sick of hearing about blood thirsty Muslims murdering innocent Christians in cold blood and NO ONE IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD SAYS A WORD.

    They are all sick.

    God rest the souls of these poor people. I hope God has them and gives their murderers what they so deserve.

    Report Post » Thatsitivehadenough  
  • kickagrandma
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:59am

    PRAY ON, AMERICA!
    Pray for CHRISTIANS all over the world.
    Love our enemies (yuck!) so we don’t turn into them.
    TRUST GOD. HE tells us in GOD CALLING, “All is well.”
    Remember that and thank HIM for it even though our earthly eyes cannot see what HE sees.

    GOD BLESS HIS KIDS!
    To GOD BE THE GLORY now and forever,
    In JESUS’ name, amen.

    Report Post »  
  • Passerby
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:56am

    100,000 East Timor Christians were butchered by the Indonesian Muslim invaders. They made a special point of going after the priests. Big secret religion had anything to do with it..

    Report Post » Passerby  
  • blackfeather
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:56am

    …so now we can say “we need a more secure place in nigeria” for Christians?…..like india is saying to us about Wisconsin???

    Report Post »  
  • ecbuck
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:55am

    Hmm – Its illegal to own a Kalashnikov assault rifle in Nigeria. The libs tell us gun laws will stop gun crime.

    Report Post »  
  • Dismayed Veteran
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:53am

    There is such a thing as a martyr in the Christian faith. Isn’t odd that Christian martyrs tend to killed at church praying while muslim “martyr” dies killing others.

    May God have mercy on their souls and may perpetual light shine upon them.

    Report Post » Dismayed Veteran  
    • HorseDancer
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 10:51am

      Get killed at church praying . . .Yu mean like Dr, Tiller? He got shot in the head while in church praying, right in front of his family. Then all you god-fearing Christians raised money for the shooter’s defense. Come back when you actually have principles.

      Report Post »  
    • LeadNotFollow
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 11:55am

      …
      “Tiller the Baby Killer”.

      Report Post »  
    • HorseDancer
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 12:08pm

      FOLLOWNOTLEAD . . .So you agree with murdering doctors who perform abortions. And you wonder why we’re working on a plan to round all of you up and put you in electrified pens.

      Report Post »  
  • ComingUnglued
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:50am

    No, Islam is the religion of peace. I wonder if the lame stream media will report this accurately. American Christians, come home, it’s getting ugly out there.

    We are all the infidels and they want to kill us. Wake up before its too late.

    Report Post »  
  • Passerby
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:49am

    This has been going on for a while. And it works, they drive the Christians out of the mixed areas. Only thing unusual about this is it’s not a mixed area. I guess there are no more mixed areas, and the Christians will just have to leave the country or convert.

    Because no one is coming to their defense.

    Can you imagine if it was the reverse, Christians doing that to Muslims? The sky would fall.

    Report Post » Passerby  
  • ZAP
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:40am

    Humanism,man becomes god unto himself or the worship of GOD.That is the choice in the end

    Report Post » ZAP  
    • Passerby
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:51am

      How about a God that isn’t impressed by groveling. Seems that’s a third option.

      Report Post » Passerby  
  • The Jewish Avenger
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:22am

    You know these anti-Christians are such cowards… I wish they’d play on an even playing field…

    The MSM that is…

    Report Post » The Jewish Avenger  
  • angelcat
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:18am

    I’ll be waiting to hear the president decry the persecution of Christians in Nigeria, but I think I will have a very long wait. Now if it had been Muslims persecuted, we would hear from him very soon and very strongly.

    Report Post »  
  • Gonzo
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:15am

    God rest their souls.

    Report Post » Gonzo  
    • loriann12
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:45am

      My son‘s best friend’s dad is from Nigeria, though i don’t know what part. H’s a Christian and left to come here. Sad to say, it might get that bad here soon.

      Report Post »  
    • HorseDancer
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 10:52am

      Yes, THE NUGE weeps. I bet it was an OWSer.

      Report Post »  
    • Gonzo
      Posted on August 7, 2012 at 11:01am

      You are a classless fool Pony, thanks for sharing that fact with the world.

      Report Post » Gonzo  
  • Apple Bite
    Posted on August 7, 2012 at 8:11am

    And the Liberal Media says nothing about it. In fact, they’re probably eating popcorn watching the chaos…

    Report Post » Apple Bite  
1 2

Sign In To Post Comments! Sign In

Sign Up For Our Newsletter!

Glenn Beck Radio

Listen to Glenn Beck 24/7 Listen Now
Restoring Love