This is the terrifying moment gunmen stormed a church in Nigeria and opened fire, killing two people and abducting a pastor before fleeing into the bush, according to police and local reports.
The horrific attack happened yesterday in Eruku, a town in the Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State, shortly after 6pm.
It comes after US President Donald Trump, at the start of November, threatened military action over what he claims are the killings of Nigeria’s Christians, a narrative which the Nigerian government has rejected.
This week, a top Christian group in the country insisted that a genocide against Christians is underway.
In the latest onslaught, police said officers and local vigilantes rushed to the outskirts of the town after hearing gunshots, but the attackers escaped before they could be confronted.
Officers searching the area later found the body of a victim identified as Mr Aderemi inside the Christ Apostolic Church, Oke Isegun, where the shooting began.
Another victim, Mr Tunde, was discovered dead in the nearby bush. A vigilante named Segun Alaja was also hit by gunfire and taken to ECWA Hospital in Eruku for urgent treatment.
The harrowing clip, live-streamed from the church, begins with a man speaking at the church’s pulpit. Moments later, multiple gunshots ring out as the congregation attempt to flee for their lives.
Children can be heard screaming in fear as people, including the elderly, look for hiding spots.
Shortly afterwards, men armed with guns and machetes – some with face coverings -are seen as shots continue to ring out. The armed men then scour the hiding places, forcing frightened worshippers to come out.
One of the militants can be seen gathering the properties of churchgoers as others continue to fire. The video ends when the device live-streaming the church service is picked up by one of the alleged culprits.
Local residents told Sahara Reporters that the gunmen burst into the church while members were holding a service.
Witnesses said the attackers immediately began shooting, causing chaos as people tried to escape.
Sources said three worshippers were killed instantly, while others, including the pastor, were forced at gunpoint into the bush.
‘The gunmen came in suddenly and started shooting. Three people were killed instantly,’ one resident said.
‘They gathered others at gunpoint and marched them into the bush. We still don’t know the exact number taken.’
The attackers are believed to have used remote footpaths leading to nearby villages, leaving the community terrified and unsure how many people remain missing.
Residents spent the night in fear as security forces continued searching the area, according to reports.
In a statement, police spokesperson SP Adetoun Ejire Adeyemi said: ‘The Kwara State Police Command confirms an attempted bandit attack in Eruku, which occurred at about 18:00 hours of today, 18th November, 2025.
‘The DPO Eruku and his team of Police operatives, in collaboration with vigilantes, swiftly responded to the sound of gunshots emanating from the outskirts of the town, prompting the hoodlums to flee into the bush.’
The statement added: ‘CP Adekimi Ojo commended the swift response of the police and vigilantes, he also assures the public that security agencies will not relent until these hoodlums are totally decimated. Further updates will be provided as investigations progress.’
It comes after the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) warned that Christians in the country are facing a genocide. It’s president, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, said: ‘It would be a grave injustice to deny the painful reality of what has transpired.
Describing the situation as a ‘ticking time bomb’, he added: ‘Lives have been brutally cut short, communities uprooted from their ancestral lands, families torn apart, churches razed, and hopes shattered. CAN has spoken clearly and courageously on this matter, and we stand by our position that there is Christian genocide in Nigeria.’
In recent months, violence against Christian communities in Nigeria has escalated sharply, with many killed and others kidnapped or displaced.
In June, residents of Yelewata, a Christian farming village, were asleep when attackers invaded, shooting and hacking to death innocent residents. Over 100 people were killed in that massacre.
According to a report by Intersociety covering the period 28 October to 11 November 2025, at least 101 Christians, including four clerics, were killed, 114 were abducted, and six churches were ransacked.
In mid-October, it was reported that 13 people were killed when Fulani militants opened fire on a Christian community in Plateau State. Five children were among those murdered.
Just this Monday, reports said that a Catholic priest had been kidnapped, while another cleric was killed in Ksuhe Gugdu, Kagarko.
In the north-west and central ‘Middle Belt’ regions, especially states such as Kaduna, Taraba, Plateau and Benue, armed militants on motorbikes have raided villages, stormed church services, kidnapped entire congregations and demanded ransom, sometimes forcing hostages to renounce their faith.
It has led to a diplomatic row between Nigeria and the United States, with president Donald Trump threatening military action against Nigeria.
On social media, he wrote: ‘ If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the USA will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.’
In September, US senator Ted Cruz introduced a bill to sanction Nigerian officials who incite violence against Christians.
Yesterday, rapper Nicki Minaj, in a United Nations-organised event, called for urgent action to ‘defend Christians in Nigeria, to combat extremism and to bring a stop to violence against those who simply want to exercise their natural right to freedom of religion or belief.’
Pope Leo XIV, on Sunday, also said that Christians are being discriminated against and persecuted in several parts of the world, singling out countries such as Nigeria, Bangladesh, Sudan, and Mozambique.
The Nigerian government rejects the idea of targeted religious genocide, stating the violence affects all communities, Muslim and Christian alike. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the country’s president, said the US’ rhetoric does not ‘reflect our national reality.’
He also stressed his willingness to work with the American government on the ‘protection of communities of all faiths’.
Analysts caution that the picture is more complex. While Christians are clearly among the victims, they say data indicate that the majority of attacks in Nigeria’s north are not clearly faith-motivated but rather driven by banditry, kidnapping for ransom, and conflicts over land and resources.
Nevertheless, many victims and church leaders have insisted that Christians are being persecuted for their faith.
Religion in Nigeria is split down the middle, with both Christians and Muslims making up about half of the general population.
Nigeria has been plagued by significant violent issues across the country. The major flashpoints of the brutalities are in the North-East, North West-North Central, South-East, and the Niger Delta.
In some reported cases, family members have been forced to watch their loved ones being gunned or hacked to death. Others have also spoken about horrific sexual violence at the hands of attackers.
For years, Boko Haram, backed by the Islamic State, has terrorised several states and communities, wiping out whole villages and kidnapping people for ransom. Armed banditry has also been a major source of violence.
There have also been several reports of Muslim Fulani herders attacking Christian farming communities, especially in the country’s Middle Belt.
Several analysts have pointed to poor governance, poverty, and ethnic tensions as the main catalysts of some of the violence.
On Monday, it was reported that at least 25 students had been abducted at the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, after armed men killed a teacher and another sustained gunshot wounds trying to protect the students.
