12 Killed During Church Service in Nigeria; Pope Condemns Violence<br />The police commissioner for Anambra State, Garba Umar, said the shooting was "not unconnected<br />to a kind of a ‘gang war’ " involving drug lords active in both Nigeria and South Africa.<br />Willie Obiano said that We are dealing with a dangerous gang war that has spilled over to Anambra State from another African country,<br />8, 2017<br />LAGOS, Nigeria — At least 12 people were killed, and 18 others injured, in a shooting during Mass at a Roman<br />Catholic church in southeastern Nigeria on Sunday, according to local authorities and the Vatican.<br />Mr. Obiano said he had gotten phone calls from Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, who is in London for medical treatment,<br />and from Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who is acting as president.<br />Pope Francis was "deeply saddened" by the attack and invoked "the divine blessings of consolation<br />and strength" upon the diocese, the Vatican’s secretary of state wrote in a message on Monday to Bishop Hilary Paul Odili Okeke of Nnewi, the diocese that includes the church.<br />"This is the first and the last of this appalling crime." According to the authorities, gunmen drove up to the gate of the Catholic Church of St. Philip<br />in the town of Ozubulu, about 16 miles south of the city of Onitsha, around 6 a.m. on Sunday, and stopped halfway through the gate, blocking it.<br />Gang-related violence is not uncommon in towns like Ozubulu, where drug cartels are active; one even<br />occurred recently during the funeral of a reputed gang member who had died in South Africa.
