Hell was let loose in the early hours yesterday at Oba-
Ofemmili community in Awka-North Local Government
Area of Anambra State, when some youths, suspected to
be cultists attacked Christians in their worship places, shot
and inflicted machete wounds on over 50 of them.
Assemblies of God, Deeper Life, Winners, Catholic Church,
3 thers affected.
The attackers also went on rampage, looting and burning
churches in the community. Some of the churches burnt
include Assemblies of God Church, Grace of God Church,
Deeper Life Bible Church, Winners Church, Christ Holy
Church, St. Paul’s Catholic Church and another pentecostal
church.
The assailants, according to the victims, attacked the
worshippers with dangerous weapons, shooting
sporadically and wounding several people. They were said
to have invaded no fewer than seven churches, burning
and destroying everything within their reach.
A two-year old baby was among the victims.
It was gathered that trouble started in the community
over disagreement between the Christians and the idol
worshippers on the cultural night masquerade, a local
fetish cult opposed by Christians in the area.
A victim of the incident, who gave his name as Mr Sunday
Aliuba, said they were in the church when the miscreants
stormed their church, armed with guns and machetes. He
said they swooped on the congregation and inflicted
machete wounds on them, causing stampede as people
struggled to escape from the church.
Hear him: “How it happened was that Oba-Ofemili and the
Christians had an agreement that the night masquerades
will not start by 9pm, and we were having our
programmes according to the rules. But on Monday night,
I was at the crusade when we heard that the pagans will
burn down all the churches. Around 11pm, they started
shooting sporadically into the air, causing everybody to
shiver. Around 1.00am on Tuesday, they stormed the
church, and razed down the parish priest’s house and
pursued everybody in the church. We hid under the
staircase and under the pews.
“In self-defence, we pounced on some of them. As it got
hotter, my colleagues ran away. I also ran but they
pursued me and shot me in the legs, shattering my ankles
and bones. They also inflicted machete wounds on me.
The blood that came out of my body can fill two buckets.
It is only God that is sustaining my life till now.”
When contacted, the priest of St. Paul’s Anglican Church,
whose parish church was razed, Rev. Pat. Odinanwa, said
series of efforts made to ensure peace in the community
between the church and the community failed. He said the
pagans nursed pathological hatred for Christians in the
community. According to him, there were agreements
reached between the church and the community, but the
pagans sought all avenues to stop Christians from
worshipping God in the community.
According to him, over 50 persons sustained gunshot and
machete wounds, while seven churches were burnt by the
irate youths. He said Christians in the area had been living
in fear, as the youths threatened further attack today.