By Rotimi Ojomoyela

Pandemonium broke out in Eda Oniyo Ekiti, Ilejemeje Local Government Area of Ekiti State on Tuesday evening, as suspected gunmen invaded a church during an open-air crusade.

Vanguard gathered that the gun welding daredevil men invaded the crusade ground located at the outskirts of the community in large numbers, opened fire. killed a pastor and abducted several worshippers.

Multiple sources in the community disclosed that the heavily armed bandits operated for several minutes before whisking away their victims into the forest.

The sources said, “This evening, some gunmen invaded a church around the outskirts of Eda Oniyo during a church programme. They abducted several worshippers, including elderly persons and children.

“They shot the pastor and took the worshippers into the forest. The attackers came in large numbers and were heavily armed.”

Although the exact number of victims could not be immediately ascertained but the incident has threw the community into panic.

A top government official and member of the state’s security committee who spoke under anonymity because he was not authorised to speak, confirmed the attack.

The source said that security operatives had already been deployed to the area and were on the trail of the attackers, expressing confidence that the victims would be rescued unharmed.

“Yes, some worshippers were kidnapped in Eda Oniyo today, but security agencies are involved. The government has deployed security operatives to the area and they are already on the trail of the attackers,” the source said.

Efforts to get the police to react to the incident were proved as calls and messages sent to the Command’s Public Relations Officer, Sunday Abutu, were unanswered