ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Gunmen attacked a church in Nigeria and killed two people, authorities said, as the country faces Trump administration threats of U.S. military intervention over allegations that Christians are persecuted there.
No group has claimed responsibility for Tuesday night’s attack in Eruku town in central Nigeria. Police responded to gunfire and found one person fatally shot inside the church and another nearby, Kwara state police spokesperson Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi said in a statement.
Kwara State Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq in a statement on Wednesday praised Nigerian President Bola Tinubu for the deployment of 900 additional troops there.
Tinubu has delayed his departure to South Africa, where he planned to attend this weekend’s Group of 20 summit of the world’s leading rich and developing nations after the attack and the abduction of 24 schoolgirls in Nigeria’s north on Monday, a spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, said in a statement.
President Donald Trump earlier this month asserted that Christianity faces an “existential threat” in Nigeria and told the Pentagon to begin preparing for possible military action in the West African nation.
Tinubu has said the characterization of Nigeria as a religiously intolerant country does not reflect the national reality. While Christians are among those targeted, analysts say the majority of victims of armed groups are Muslims in Nigeria’s Muslim-majority north, where most attacks occur.
Nigeria’s central region has been plagued by violence for years as local herders and farmers often clash over limited access to land and water. The clashes have also taken on a religious dimension, giving rise to militias that side with the primarily Muslim herders or the farmers from Christian communities.
Nigeria’s north often sees attacks by the resurgent Boko Haram group, an affiliate of the Islamic State group and armed gangs.
By DYEPKAZAH SHIBAYAN
Associated Press
