At least two persons were reportedly killed on Sunday, after gunmen attacked a Celestial Church in the Felele area, Lokoja, Kogi State.
The police spokesperson in Kogi, William Aya, confirmed the incident to reporters adding that three others sustain injuries.
The police said the hoodlums invaded the Church and started shooting at worshippers indiscriminately.
“It was a distress call that the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of B Division Felele received that hoodlums invaded a Celestial Church behind NNPC mega station and they began shooting.
“Two people were confirmed dead in the hospital, while three are receiving treatment,” the police said in a statement.
The spokesperson said the Commissioner of Police has deployed operatives, and ordered the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the investigation, to commence a probe to unravel the cause of the attack and to arrest the perpetrators.
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 group in a statement by its national coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, expressed sadness at the attack and also condemned recent 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.
“In August 2021, three members of the Living Faith Church Worldwide located in the Osara community, Adavi Local Council were kidnapped by gunmen inside the church premises.
“In September 2021, gunmen killed a member of Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) and abducted two others during an attack on the church located along Kabba-Okene road.
“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.
