More than 50 killed with explosives reportedly detonated in attack during mass at church in Ondo state

Gunmen attacked a Catholic church in Ondo state, Nigeria, during mass on Sunday, leaving dozens dead, in a “satanic attack” local officials said.

The attackers targeted the St Francis Xavier Catholic Church in the town of Owo just as the worshippers gathered on Pentecost Sunday, state legislator Ogunmolasuyi Oluwole said.

Woman and four children among 14 victims of latest wave of killings in south-east Anambra State

A spate of killings in south-east Nigeria blamed on a prominent Biafran secessionist group has sparked outrage and added another layer of insecurity in the country, where kidnappings for ransom are common in the north-west and an Islamist insurgency has been going on for more than a decade in the north-east.

In one incident last week a pregnant mother and her four children were killed as they were travelling home from a visit to family members on a motorcycle taxi. At least seven other people were killed in Anambra state last Sunday, a day after the mutilated bodies of an abducted state lawmaker and his aide were discovered.

The programme, organised by Kings Assembly church in Rivers state, aimed to ‘offer hope’ to those in need

A stampede at a church charity event in southern Nigeria on Saturday left 31 people dead and seven injured, a shocking development at a programme that organisers said aimed to “offer hope” to those in need.

The stampede at the programme organised by the Kings Assembly pentecostal church in Rivers state involved many people who were seeking assistance, according to Grace Iringe-Koko, a police spokesperson.

Demonstrators demand release of two students held after murder of Christian woman in Sokoto

Hundreds of people in Nigeria’s north-western city of Sokoto demonstrated on Saturday over the arrest of two students after the murder of a Christian student accused of blasphemy, residents said.

Africa’s most populous country is roughly divided between Muslims and Christians but religious tensions and deadly clashes are not uncommon, particularly in the north.

Suspected bandits blow up track and open fire on train travelling from Abuja to Kaduna

Gunmen have attacked a train travelling from the Nigerian capital, Abuja, to the city of Kaduna, in an “unprecedented” act of violence that will heighten concerns about a breakdown of security in the country’s troubled northern region.

The death toll is unclear but a local security official told Reuters two train staff and five security personnel had been killed. A senator in Kaduna state separately said three cleaning staff on the train had died. Many others were injured and there were fears that an unknown number had been abducted.