FAMILIES of victims from a church attack held a funeral mass yesterday for the 40 people killed in the gun and bomb assault in southwest Nigeria earlier this month.

The St Francis Catholic Church attack in Ondo State drew international condemnation and was a rare occurrence in the usually safer southwest region of the country.

Government officials said they suspect Islamic State West Africa Province is behind the violence, though the group usually operates in the northeast where a jihadist insurgency has been grinding on for more than a decade.

Families gathered for a mass ceremony in a hall in Owo, Ondo State, with a line of coffins laid out before the congregation.

“We are here for this service today, the last service for those who were mindlessly killed on June 5,” governor Rotimi Akeredolu told the families.

“The good lord is the only who can console the families.”

One of the coffins had a pair of policeman boots placed on top for the officer who was killed.

Some families already buried their relatives, while others were to carry out burials after the ceremony.

No group has claimed the attack.

Police said gunmen hid among worshippers inside the church during service, while others opened fire on the congregation from outside.

Officers found three unexploded improvised explosive devices. At least one blast detonated inside the church.

A priest conducting the service said some worshippers, including children, hid in the vestry for about 20 minutes before emerging to carnage.

The attack drew widespread international criticism, including from Pope Francis.

Nigeria’s military and police are battling on several fronts – jihadist groups in the northeast, criminal gangs in the northwest and centre, and separatist violence in the southeast. – AFP, June 18, 2022.