ERUKU: Gunmen killed two people during an attack on a church in western Nigeria on Tuesday evening.
The assault at Christ Apostolic Church in Eruku, Kwara state was recorded by a church camera during the service.
Footage showed the service being interrupted by gunfire with children heard screaming outside.
Armed men chased worshippers while others stole belongings during the violent incident.
Kwara state police said they responded swiftly “in collaboration with vigilantes” to gunshots from the town’s outskirts.
This prompt action forced the “hoodlums to flee into the bush” according to their overnight statement.
Police discovered Mr Aderemi fatally shot inside the church during their search of the area.
Another victim, Mr Tunde Asaba Ajayi, was found with fatal gunshot wounds in the nearby bush.
A third man wounded in the attack was immediately rushed to hospital for treatment.
Kwara state governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq sought immediate deployment of additional security personnel.
His chief press secretary confirmed the governor’s response in a Wednesday morning statement.
The state has experienced multiple bandit attacks in recent months.
President Bola Tinubu deployed military personnel in October to clear gang bases from state forests.
Nigeria faces numerous conflicts including jihadist insurgencies affecting both Christians and Muslims.
Criminal gangs known locally as bandits regularly target churches and mosques across northern regions.
These groups loot villages while kidnapping and killing residents for ransom.
The attack follows US President Donald Trump’s early November threat of military action over Christian killings.
Nigeria’s government has rejected this narrative about the treatment of Christians.
Africa’s most populous nation remains divided between a Christian-majority south and Muslim-dominated north.
