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Tag: gunman

  • Tragic! Gunman opens fire on wedding guests in Kano

    Tragic! Gunman opens fire on wedding guests in Kano

    A faceless gunman opened fire on youths riding horses during a wedding ceremony in Kano on Wednesday.

    The youth, who were said to be celebrating the wedding of one of their associates, were shot at and injured by the yet-to-be identified assassin.

    The victims, who suffered varying degrees of gunshot injuries, were rushed to the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital for medical attention.

    The father of one of the victims, Malam Mohammed Abdullahi, described the incident as very unfortunate.

    “I have never witnessed this kind of madness in my life for someone to just open fire on innocent youths, without any just cause,” he stated.

    As of the time of filing this report, the victims were still at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, receiving treatment.

    When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Abdullahi Haruna, confirmed the shooting but said he did not have the details yet.

     

  • 49 killed, 20 injured as gunman opens fire on Mosque during prayers

    49 killed, 20 injured as gunman opens fire on Mosque during prayers

    A gunman killed 49 people and wounded more than 20 during Friday prayers at two New Zealand mosques in the country’s worst ever mass shooting which Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, condemned as terrorism.

    A gunman broadcast live footage on Facebook of the attack on one mosque in the city of Christchurch, mirroring the carnage played out in video games, after publishing a “manifesto” in which he denounced immigrants.

    New Zealand was placed on its highest security threat level, Mr Ardern said.

    It added that four people in police custody, three men and one woman, held extremist views but had not been on any police watch lists.

    The visiting Bangladesh cricket team was arriving for prayers at one of the mosques when the shooting started but all members were safe, a team coach said.

    Police Commissioner, Mike Bush said 49 people had been killed at two mosques and one man in his late 20s charged with murder.

    “It is clear that this can now only be described as a terrorist attack,” Mr Ardern said.

    The video footage widely circulated on social media, apparently taken by a gunman and posted online live as the attack unfolded, showed him driving to one mosque, entering it and shooting randomly at people inside.

    Worshippers, possibly dead or wounded, lay huddled on the floor, the video showed. Reuters was unable to confirm the authenticity of the footage.

    One man who said he was at the Al-Noor mosque told media the gunman was white, blond and wearing a helmet and a bulletproof vest.

    The man burst into the mosque as worshippers were kneeling for prayers.

    “He had a big gun … he came and started shooting everyone in the mosque, everywhere,” said the man, Ahmad Al-Mahmoud.

    He said that he and others escaped by breaking through a glass door.

    All mosques in New Zealand had been asked to shut their doors, police said.

    The killings were condemned by political and Islamic leaders across Asia.

    “Indonesia strongly condemns this shooting act, especially at a place of worship while a Friday prayer was ongoing,” Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, said in a statement.

    She was earlier cited by media as saying six Indonesians had been inside one mosque when the attack occurred, with three managing to escape and three unaccounted for.

    Muslims account for just over one per cent of New Zealand’s population, a 2013 census showed.

    Before Friday, New Zealand’s worst mass shooting was in 1990 when a gun-mad loner killed 13 men, women and children in a 24-hour rampage in the tiny seaside village of Aramoana.

    He was killed by police.

  • Three dead, four injured as gunman opens fire in California bar

    Three dead, four injured as gunman opens fire in California bar

    A mass shooting at a California bowling alley which has left three men dead and four more injured.

    Police in Torrance confirmed shots had rang out at Gable House Bowl.

    They found seven men with gunshot wounds and pronounced three dead at the scene.

    According to witnesses a fight inside the bar escalated which led to the shooting.

    Wes Hamad, a 29-year-old Torrance resident, was at the bowling alley with his 13-year-old niece and cousin when what he called a “huge fight” broke out.

    He said the brawl which lasted about five minutes devolved into “complete chaos.”

    A journalist for the LA Times reported a man told him their 31-year-old brother had been shot in the chest while celebrating a birthday at the scene.

    Witness D Ryon Thomas posted horrific video on Facebook in the aftermath of the shooting which showed one bloodied victim lying on the floor of the bowling alley.

    He wrote online: “Gunshot fired. I’m okay just my few scraping on my legs. I heard ppl died n injured. I was distance away but people ran in our room. The women weeping and wailing in the background makes me sad.”

    Witness Dana Scott, whose bowling league was meeting Friday night, told CNN: “A lot of people ran back into the bar area – behind the seats and onto the floor, under the benches. People were crying. It was not comfortable.”

    Audio of police officers discussing the shooting detailed them calling it a “major incident”.

    They spoke of “multiple callers”, “multiple people shot” and “gunshot wounds”.

    “We have multiple subjects down inside and outside Gable House.”

    An officer also said there had been a shooting in the parking lot and three people were said to be “hiding in the bathroom”.

    Gable House Bowl patron Jesus Perez told the Los Angeles Times: “We just ran right into the bar and took cover. All we heard was just, like two people got shot,” he told the newspaper.

    An LA Times journalist shared videos of people weeping outside the alley, with one shouting “we’re here” as they embraced another.

    As the incident unfolded. Torrance police tweeted: “Reports of shots fired with multiple victims down. T P D is on scene. Investigation is ongoing.”

    Police urged people to “stay away from the area” near the bowling alley.

    The bowling alley is based on Hawthorne Boulevard, with people warned away from there and nearby Sepulveda Boulevard in particular.

    Gable House is described on its website as a gaming venue that offers bowling, laser tag and a full arcade.

    Torrance, California, is a coastal city about 20 miles from Los Angeles.

    A woman living near to the bowling alley, writing on Twitter, said: “I live in Redondo Beach & drive by Gable House all the time. It’s been there since I was a child.

    “It’s an institution. This is heartbreaking. People think shootings only happen in other towns. They can happen anywhere. It’s time to talk about commonsense gun laws”

    Two of the four injured men were taken to hospital while the other pair “opted to seek their own medical attention”.

    Investigators were at the scene Saturday trying to “identify the suspects and whoever else was involved”, according to police spokesman Sgt. Ronald Harris.

  • Gunman kills three people in French Christmas market, flees

    Gunman kills three people in French Christmas market, flees

    A gunman on a security watch list killed three people and wounded a dozen others near the picturesque Christmas market in the historic French city of Strasbourg on Tuesday evening before fleeing.

    Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said the shooter had evaded a police dragnet and was on the run, raising concerns of a follow-up attack.

    “The government has raised its security threat to the highest level and is bolstering border controls,” Castaner told a late-night news conference. “We will also reinforce security at all Christmas markets to prevent copycat attacks.”

    With France still on high alert after a wave of attacks commissioned or inspired by Islamic State militants since early 2015, the counter-terrorism prosecutor opened an investigation.

    Police identified the suspect as Strasbourg-born Cherif Chekatt, 29, who was known to the intelligence services as a potential security risk.

    Castaner said the gunman exchanged shots with security forces twice as he escaped. His whereabouts now were unknown, and elite commandos and helicopters were involved in the manhunt.

    The Paris prosecutor said the motive for the attack was not known. No one immediately claimed responsibility, but the U.S.-based Site intelligence group, which monitors jihadist websites, said Islamic State supporters were celebrating.

    The attack began at about 8 p.m. (1900 GMT) as stallholders prepared to close down and restaurants filled in the city, which sits across the Rhine River from Germany. Bystanders were swiftly ushered into nearby shops.

    “There was confusion initially but they locked the front doors pretty soon after the gunshots,” said U.S. citizen Elizabeth Osterwisch, who was sheltering on the top floor of the Galeries Lafayette department store.

    “They moved us several times, eventually settling on the place with the most protection.”

    European Parliament lawmaker Emmanuel Maurel said he had heard the shots.

    “From my hotel window I saw passersby dragging someone who was injured and onlookers panicking,” he tweeted. “Soldiers and police have cordoned off the area. We’re being told to stay in the hotel.”

    The European Parliament, which is sitting in Strasbourg this week, was put into lockdown.

    On the opposite side of the Rhine river German police also tightened border controls, officials said.

    The Strasbourg prefecture said the gunman was on an intelligence services watch list.

    Sources familiar with the police operation said the suspect’s home had been raided earlier in the day in connection with a robbery during the summer, but he was not found there.

    A Reuters reporter was among 30 to 40 people being held in the basement of a supermarket for their own safety, waiting for police to clear the area. Lights were switched off and bottles of water handed out.

    Security was tight this year for the Christmas market, which is popular with visitors to the city’s old quarter, with its Gothic cathedral and half-timbered houses.

    Unauthorized vehicles were excluded from surrounding streets during opening hours and checkpoints were set up on bridges and access points to search pedestrians’ bags.

    President Emmanuel Macron was being updated on events, an Elysee Palace official said. Castaner was on his way to Strasbourg.

    Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the European Commission, the EU executive body, tweeted: “My thoughts are with the victims of the Strasbourg shooting, which I condemn with the utmost firmness. Strasbourg is an excellent symbol of peace and European Democracy. Values that we will always defend.”

     

    Some 26,000 individuals suspected of posing a security risk to France are on the “S File” watch list, of whom about 10,000 are believed to have been radicalised, sometimes in fundamentalist Salafist Muslim mosques, online or abroad.

    European security agencies have feared for some time that Islamist militants who left Europe to fight for Islamic State in Syria and Iraq would return after the jihadist group’s defeat, with the skills and motivation to carry out attacks at home.

    Secular France has been grappling with how to respond to both homegrown jihadists and foreign militants following attacks in Paris, Nice, Marseille and beyond since 2015.

    In 2016, a truck plowed into a Bastille Day crowd in Nice, killing more than 80 people. In November 2015, coordinated Islamist militant attacks on the Bataclan concert hall and other sites in Paris claimed about 130 lives.

    There have also been attacks in Paris on a policeman on the Champs-Elysees avenue, the offices of satirical weekly publication Charlie Hebdo and a kosher store.

    Almost exactly two years ago, a Tunisian Islamist rammed a hijacked truck into a Christmas market in central Berlin, killing 11 people as well as the driver.

  • Gunman kills city mayor

    Gunman kills city mayor

    Mayor of the Philippine city of Tanauan, Antonio Halili, who made headlines two years ago for ordering drug suspects to parade in public, was shot dead by a sniper on Monday, media reported.

    According to ABS-CBN, the incident took place during a flag ceremony at Tanauan City Hall.

    The gunman, who was supposedly hiding in the bushes nearby, shot the mayor in the chest.

    “The official was declared dead upon arrival to the hospital,’’ the media concluded, citing police.

    Halili became famous in May 2016 when he forced drug suspects to take walks of shame, in spite of protests by human rights groups.

    Media had also reported that the mayor was on the watch list over his alleged involvement in the drug trade.

  • Gunman storms Kaduna Christmas Carol venue, kills four, injures others

    There was pandemonium in Kaduna on Friday night as a lone gunman invaded Godogodo Village while residents were holding a special Christmas Carol service killing at least four and injuring eight others.

    This was revealed in a statement by the spokesman for Operation Safe Haven, Colonel IK Ekpeyong. According to him, the gunman invaded Godogodo village as the residents were holding a Christmas carol at the community square at about 9pm, shooting sporadically, and in the process killed four persons and injured eight others.

    Col. Ekpeyong disclosed that the bodies had been deposited in a mortuary while the eight wounded persons were taken to the Kafanchan General Hospital for treatment, the report said.

    “He also added that some people suspected to be masterminds of the attack have been arrested for further interrogation, while more troops have been deployed to the area to avert a fresh attack or reprisal,” the report further said.

    More details shortly…

  • Gunman robs, shoots female AIT reporter

    An unknown gunman on Saturday shot a reporter with the Africa Independent Television (AIT), Miss Owe Patience, in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

    The victim was reportedly shot at close range along Edepie area by her assailant, who dispossessed her of her mobile phones, cash and other valuables.

    Owei, who covers the Government House, was attacked at about 10.30pm on Friday while returning home from a church service, Shilloh 2017, organised by the Living Faith Church also known as Winners Chapel,.

    It was learnt that the suspected armed robbers shot her in the back after collecting her phones and handbag, leaving her in the pool of her blood.

    It was gathered that she was unconscious and in a critical condition.

    Some journalists and members of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), who visited her at the State Government House hospital, where she was rushed to for treatment lamented her condition saying she could not talk.

    A Good Samaritan, who rushed her to the hospital, narrated how the journalist was shot.

    The source, who identified himself as Bokoru said: “Last night (Friday night) at about 10:40pm, I had an urgent call from James Baridi a few metres from my house. When I went it was the fresh scene of a rather violent robbery.

    “A girl I would later identity as an AIT staff was laying half-conscious in a pool of her blood. Witnesses said it was a lone gunman who had trailed her from Shiloh.

    “Just in front of her house he showed her the gun, took her phone, jewellery and cash. But the animal didn’t end there. He took steps backwards and shot her at close range even as she gave him no problems.

    “Her landlady, James and I rushed her to Tobis Hospital at Akenfa. To our surprise … They would not save her life except we provide a police report and a wholesome amount.

    “We took her to another hospital at Igbogene, the people here were humans and they commenced treatment instantly including fresh pounds of blood.

    “By morning we realised we needed to contact her family, but how? She lives alone and her phones were gone. In the area no one knows much about her except that she’s a journalist for AIT. We also reported the matter to the Akenfa police division

    “For a start, I called NUJ Bayelsa scribe Ebiowei Lawal who called her office. It’s been a very long day. Patience Owe will make it and we have God to thank. Our prayers will remain with her”.

    The Police Public Relations Officer, Asinim Butswat, confirmed the development and said the police were investigating.

     

     

  • BREAKING: Gunmen invade another Anambra church, kill policeman

    Gunmen on Sunday struck at the Assemblies of God Church on the Oguta road Onitsha, Anambra State killing one policeman and a civilian., PUNCH reports.

    The church is located on Oguta road in Onitsha.

    The attack comes exactly a week after a Catholic church was attacked in the Ozubulu area of the state.

    According to Punch, an eyewitness was quoted as saying the policeman killed was one of the security detail deployed to the church.

    “Gunmen on Okada (motorcycle) shot a policeman and collected his rifle. They also shot dead an Okada man while escaping, and the passenger he was carrying was injured,” a witness said.

    “The policeman was the one armed among his colleagues, they were providing security while church service was going on at Assemblies of God Church, Oguta road Onitsha.”

    Another witness said the police officers ran for safety when the exchange of fire became “too hot”.

    “When the firing became too hot, the policemen abandoned their patrol vehicle and ran away for safety. The gunmen moved to their patrol van and took a gun belonging to the policeman they killed,” the second witness said

    “I saw two of the gunmen but I can’t say how many they are in number.”

    It is unclear why the gunmen struck, but Garba Umar, commissioner of police in Anambra, while confirming the incident, said: “It was not an attack on the church, in the real sense of it.”

    “My men were on patrol near the church when they were attacked by some gunmen.”

  • Rain of bullets in Anambra Church killings: ‘Death toll of bloody drug war rises to 11’

    The death toll of the tragic Anambra Church killings at St Philip’s Catholic church, Ofufe Nza, Ozubulu in Ekwusigo local government area of Anambra State, when a hooded gunman stormed the church and rained bullets on the congregants, has risen to 11, the police has confirmed.

    Recall TheNewsGuru had earlier published that eight people died, while 18 others sustained various degrees of gunshot injuries, in the Anambra gun church attack.

    The Commissioner of Police in the state, Garba Umar, who provided the update said that the command would leave no turn unturned to bring the attackers to justice.

    Mr. Umar, who spoke at a news conference in Awka, gave the updated figures of casualties as 11 dead and 18 injured.

    The gunman was said to have entered the church while the Parish Priest, Rev. Fr. Jude Onwuaso, was delivering his homily.

    Confirming that the killings in Anambra Church, Ozubulu, was drug crime-related, the Police said intelligence report/preliminary investigation proved that it was a fight between two sons of the community residing outside the country that caused the incident, adding that it was one of the suspected drug barons who built the church in which the incident happened.

    The state governor, Willie Obiano, had earlier also confirmed this, saying he had been briefed by sources in the community that the reason for the killings was as a result of a misunderstanding between two members of the community who live outside the country.

    An eyewitness, Pa Don Ogbuagu, told news men that the gunman actually wanted to assassinate a billionaire son of one of the clan chiefs of Ozubulu, Chief Aloysius Ikegwuonu (a.k.a. Bishop Ebubechukwu-Uzo of Ozubulu).

    Ogbuagu said unfortunately for the gunman, he met his absence. This forced him to storm a church located near the alleged billionaire’s house (St Philips) in search of him but also found he was not there.

    “This angered him to the extent that he opened fire on innocent parishioners, shooting at them indiscriminately. The father of the billionaire was also shot and injured in his hand”, he added.

    Also, a statement by the director of communications, Nnewi diocese, Fr. Hygi Aghualor, confirming the incident noted that those who were injured during the incident are receiving treatment at Nnamdi Azikiwe teaching hospital, Nnewi.

    The statement made available to newsmen also noted that both the state governor, Willie Obiano and the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese, Most Rev Hilary Okeke visited the scene as soon as the incident was reported to them.

    Lamenting over the gruesome killings, Fr. Aghualor said, “It is regrettable that our people are more and more losing sense of the Sacred. What on earth should make people open gun fire on innocent, unarmed worshippers on Sunday morning, including children and women? We condemned this ungodly act in toto.

    “We pray the almighty God to console the families affected and assured them that our hearts are with them as we pray for the quick recovery of the wounded. The governor decided to pick the bills of those in the hospital. The parish priest Rev Father Jude was not harmed. For the entire parishioners, we call on them not to be discouraged in their usual practice of faith.

    “It is when the forces of darkness attempt to over shadow goodness that the light of God shines even brighter than ever just as it happened at the Easter Sunday. Evil may make attempts but God will always triumph. We call on the good people to continue to pray for the deceased worshippers and the families”.

     

     

    It’s unspeakable sacrilege –Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday condemned the Anambra Catholic church killings.

    In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President described the incident as “an appalling crime against humanity and unspeakable sacrilege.

    “This kind of atrocity plumbs the depth of depravity and extreme cruelty of the kind that words cannot adequately express.”

    According to the President, there is no religion that does not lay constant emphasis on the sanctity of life, adding that “all Nigerians must rise up and speak with one voice against these remorseless evil men.”

    President Buhari also spoke on Sunday on the telephone from his hospital bed in London with Governor Obiano.

    Shehu disclosed this in another statement.

    “The President has just finished speaking to Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State, in the course of which he commiserated with him, the families of the victims and the citizens of the state,” the statement said.

    Saraki, Ekweremadu lament killings

    President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki; and Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said the act was evil.

    Saraki in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Yusuph Olaniyonu, said killing of the worshippers represented “the purest kind of evil.”

    He said, “This brutal act of attacking innocent worshippers represents the purest kind of evil.

    “Our security forces must not stop until those involved in execution of the massacre are brought to book.’’

    Ekweremadu, in a separate statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Uche Anichukwu, said the attack was “beastly and sacrilegious.”

    While describing the day as a black Sunday, the Deputy Senate President called on security agencies to fish out the killers.

    He said, “However, this dastardly act brings to the fore, once again, the need to reengineer our security system, to arrest the rising wave of violent crimes in the country.”

    Insecurity reducing Nigeria to the state of nature –Dogara

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, described the attack as abominable and the height of wickedness.

    In a statement by the Speaker’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Turaki Hassan, Dogara said, “Have we lost our humanity? Where is the place of sanctity of life and sacredness of worship places in our society? What offence did the worshippers commit to warrant their massacre by wicked souls and heartless men?”

    The Speaker reiterated his call for the overhaul of Nigeria’s policing architecture that would lead to reform of the police force, adding that equipping the police with modern gadgets would allow them to discharge their duties of protecting lives and property effectively.

    Mindless attack taken too far–Okowa

    Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State described the attack as mindless.

    Okowa said it was condemnable for anyone to take his anger on a church which was supposed to be a place of refuge.

    A statement by the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Charles Aniagwu, noted that the tragic incident was unwarranted.

    The statement said the attack was a desecration of the temple of God, adding that the Church should be a place of refuge and devoid of attacks even in war.

    He said, “This unwarranted attack and mindless bloodletting is not only wicked, but barbaric and must be condemned by all good men of conscience.”

    PDP condemns killings

    The Peoples Democratic Party on Sunday said it was in shock over the attack.

    The party, in a statement by its spokesman, Dayo Adeyeye, described the invasion as barbaric and a serious indication that “our society is fast degenerating into a state of anomie with total moral collapse and utter disregard for the sanctity of human life.”

    Adeyeye said the killings was a call for moral rearmament by all and sundry, adding that it was a wake-up call for the government to do more in the area of protection of lives and property.

    It is barbaric, says APC

    The All Progressives Congress said on Sunday that the attack was barbaric.

    The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, called on security agencies to ensure that the perpetrators “of this heinous crime are brought to justice.’’

    “The APC condemns the barbarism displayed by the callous attackers who gunned down defenceless people while they worshiped,” the statement added.

    Abdullahi also called on security agents in Anambra, as well as other parts of the country to provide adequate security in places of worship to forestall a repeat of “this unfortunate incident.”

    S/East govs forum demands probe

    The South-East Governors Forum on Sunday demanded a “proper investigation” into the attack on the Catholic Church.

    The Chairman of the forum and Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, in a statement said a proper investigation must be conducted to unravel the true cause of the carnage.

    He said, “I, on behalf of the South-East Governors Forum, condemn the killings recorded in the church, It shows how wicked our generation is. I call on security agencies to unravel the true cause of the carnage.”

    Address proliferation of arms –CAN

    The Christian Association of Nigeria also condemned the killings.

    CAN President, Dr Supo Ayokunle, said the attack was unwarranted and urged security agencies to bring the perpetrators to justice.

    Ayokunle in a statement, said, “I urge the Federal Government, through the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to address the issue of proliferation of arms and ammunition to make our world safer.

    “The perpetrators of this ungodly act must be brought to book without delay.”

    Also, the youth wing of CAN blamed the attack on lapses in security.

    The National President of YOWICAN, Daniel Kadzai, in a statement, said, “This attack was made possible as a result of what we consider a deliberate shirking of responsibilities by the state security agencies.

    “We demand the arrest of perpetrators of this terrorist-style crime within the next 48 hours. If the state security apparatuses do not stand up to this challenge, YOWICAN will have no choice but to take up this matter using a much strenuous approach.’’

  • Anambra church gun attack: Here is all you need to know

    There has been a distortion in the reports on the identity of the actual killer, [gunman] or killers [gunmen] of eight worshippers on Sunday at St. Philip Catholic Church, Ozubulu in Anambra state.

    When the first wave of news reports on incident hit the internet space, over four hours ago [12:00 pm], most news media at the time, erroneously reported that the attack was perpetrated by some unknown gunmen.

    However, the state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr. Garba Umar on Sunday confirmed that it is only one gunman that carried out the killings.

    Also, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, who reacted to the Anambra Church killings in a video shared by his supporters on Facebook led a whole lot of netizens confused about the ethnic background of the gunman, by blaming the Hausa, Fulani as being the mastermind of the incident.

    In the video, enraged Kanu said Igbos are tired of the so many killings which he blamed on the current structure of the country that placed ‘Biafra’ under the Nigerian government.

    Watch the video: ‘We are tired of being killed by Hausa,Fulani’ – Nnamdi Kanu

    On the contrary, Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano, while quoting an intelligence report gathered by the state linked the shooting to an existing feud existing between some members of Umuezekwe Ofufe Amakwa community of Ozubulu living abroad.

    Accordingly, the report of the state’s commissioner of police, Garba corroborated with Governor Obiano’s account, which both debunks the Nnamdi Kanu speculation of a possible invasion.

    Garba said, “From our findings, it is very clear that the person who carried the attack must be an indigene of the area.“We gathered that worshippers for 6 o’clock Sunday mass at St. Philip Ozobulu were in the service when a gunman dressed in black attire covering his face with a cap entered the church and moved straight to a particular direction and opened fire.

    “The man after shooting at his targeted victims still went on a shooting spree, killing and wounding other worshippers,’’ he said.

    The commissioner said information available to police showed that the attacker was speaking undiluted Igbo Language at the time he was firing at worshippers.

    Parish priest, choir member speak

    The Parish Priest of St. Philip’s Catholic Church, Rev. Fr. Jude Onwuaso, said that the attack took place at about 6.30 a.m. during a Holy Mass celebration.

    According to the priest, an unidentified man came into the Church, shot at a man, Chief Akunwafor Ikegwuonwu, before shooting sporadically at other worshippers.

    An eyewitness, who simply identified herself as a choir member, said that the church was dark as there was no light.

    She said that the generating set suddenly developed fault; so, the mass proceeded with the congregation using candles.

    According to her, the gunman, after the shooting, immediately jumped into a waiting car with a driver.

    Why the shootings?

    There are strong speculations that the gun attack is motivated by drug deals gone wrong.

    Recall that the Obiano gave a hint, saying the killings were as a result of a feud existing between some members of Umuezekwe Ofufe Amakwa community of Ozubulu who are living abroad.