LAGOS—The subject was Pentecost, but the message was bullets that killed more than 40 people in a Catholic congregation in Nigeria’s relatively serene Ondo state.
The priest was just giving the benediction at the end of a mass to celebrate Pentecost Sunday when at least four shooters detonated a bomb and began spraying bullets among trapped worshippers.
The venue of the horrific attack was Saint Francis Catholic Church in Owo, a quiet town in Ondo state, approximately 170 miles west of the capital Lagos. Unidentified gunmen attacked on June 5, killing and wounding close to 50 people.
Eyewitnesses said the attackers detonated explosives inside the chapel that tore plaster off ceilings and left many severely injured….