Terrorists attack Taraba Catholic church, abduct catechist

Terrorists on Sunday night attacked St. Agnes Catholic Church in the Gassol Local Government Area of Taraba State and abducted a catechist.

The Parish Priest of St. Agnes Parish, Rev. Fr. Lawrence Awua, told our correspondent on the phone that terrorists invaded the church and began shooting at 9:58 pm.

“I was in the room when the attackers came and started shooting sporadically and hitting objects on my door.

“I never responded and they probably thought I was not around.

“My catechist, who was in the church heard what was happening in the Parish House and was coming towards the house when they abducted him,” he said.

In a related development, gunmen on Sunday afternoon shot one Mr. Tavershima Faga in Borno-kurku, Bali local government area of the state.

Faga was returning from a church service on a motorcycle when he was shot and left in his pool of blood.

The Chief of Tiv in Bali, Zaki Gbaa, confirmed the attack in a telephone interview with our correspondent.

“Yes, Tavershima Faga was attacked at about 2:10 pm yesterday. The attackers thought he died and they left.

“It was a passerby who saw him alive and alerted the community. He is currently receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital,” he said.

These attacks came barely two weeks after gunmen killed Pastor Solomon Maji on his way back from church in Borno-kurku.

The Police Public Relations Officer, DSP. Usman Abdullahi, did not respond to calls to his line as of the time of filing this report.

(Punch)