Evil Gunmen attempt to burn a parish in Kogi State, kill two observing spiritual protection (Abo)

 

Evil Gunmen attempt to burn a parish in Kogi State, kill two observing spiritual protection (Abo)


Bloodbath as a result of an attack at a parish of Celestial Church by gunmen had left a mother and her daughter dead in Kogi State.


According to an eyewitness, heavily armed men in five motorcycles started shooting sporadically, pumping hot bullets into the parish located at Felele, a relatively peaceful town on the outskirts of Lokoja, the capital of Kogi. Another eye witness said they attempted burning the entire parish, but only succeeded in burning the altar, documents and musical equipments.


The Shepherd in charge of the parish, CCC Blood of Jesus Parish, Superior Evangelist Iraese Monday, could not hold back his tears as he conducted the crew of Leadership Newspaper around the bullet-ridden church premises.


The Shepherd said "On Sunday after the service, at about 8:00 pm, the gunmen stormed the Church and started shooting sporadically into the air. I peeped through the window and I saw fire burning inside the church. At that point, I had to lie down on the floor. After about 15 minutes, I discovered that the gunshots had reduced, I looked through the window and I found two of my children crawling towards my house with bullet wounds.”


Superior Evangelist Monday added that the parish has been in the community for over 11 years and had never witnessed any form of security breaches even when the parish was not yet surrounded by houses.


He mentioned that five persons were shot, with three having severe bullet wound at various sensitive parts of their bodies. The three are his son, daughter and another member of the parish. The other two are a deceased mother and her daughter.


A member of the parish, Samson Irease confirmed that the woman came to the church for prayers and she stayed back with her daughter after the prayer but unfortunately, she and her daughter became victims of the attack.


A member of the community Joe Peku mentioned that they are surprised by the attack as the Shepherd of the parish is an active member of the community, a peace lover who accommodates all members of the community regardless of their religion or tribe.

The Community Leader Mallam Adamu Koto said the entire community is still in shock as they are just recovering from the trauma caused by the attack.

Koto said that the attack on the parish is an attack on the entire community. The community leader added that the relationship between the parish and the community makes it very hard to go over the trauma.