Gunmen have killed eight people and kidnapped 38 others in an attack on two churches in the northern state of Kaduna, an official from the Christian Association of Nigeria says, weeks after a similar deadly attack in the southwest.
The attack occurred during the morning service of a Catholic and Baptist church on Sunday, Reverend Danlami Gajere, CAN chairman for Kasuwan Magani ward in Kaduna state, told Reuters by phone.
Two weeks ago, gunmen wielding AK-47 rifles and explosives attacked St Francis Catholic Church in Owo town, killing 40 people.
The government suspect insurgent group Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
But ISWAP has not claimed responsibility for the attack.
Armed gangs are rife across Nigeria’s northwest where they rob or kidnap for ransom and violence has been increasing, where thinly stretched security forces often fail to stop the attacks.