Unknown assailants attacked a church in Anambra State early Wednesday morning, killing two worshippers and injuring several others, local sources confirmed.
The incident occurred at around 5:30 a.m. during early prayers at the church in Anambra East. Eyewitnesses said the gunmen burst in and opened fire indiscriminately. “They came like mad men — shooting, shouting. We barely escaped,” one survivor recounted.
The premises and environs appeared deserted, while some properties were seen littering the place.
Some eyewitnesses and residents in the area confirmed that the incident, which occurred in the early hours of Sunday, disrupted church activities and sent panic in the area.
Two victims were confirmed dead on the spot, while others sustained wounds and have been taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. Authorities have launched an investigation, but no arrests have been made as of press time.
One of the sources said, “A brutal attack occurred at the St. Andrews Anglican Church, Isiokwe in Lilu community of Ihiala LGA in the early hours of Sunday.
“The heavily armed hoodlums invaded the church as worshippers were getting ready for Sunday activity and started shooting, setting properties on the church premises, including buildings, ablaze.
“Unfortunately, they brutally murdered the wife of the church priest and one other person. They also injured many others, razed down the priest’s house to ashes, burnt down some church vehicles and other church properties, including a part of the main church building.
“This wicked act on a holy day in a Christian church and in a Christian community has not had a single mention from those who are fast to share happenings from elsewhere.”
The spokesman for the Anambra State Police Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the development on Monday, when contacted.
Ikenga added that the state Commissioner of Police, CP Ikioye Orutugu, has intensified intelligence-driven operations, deployed the joint security team and strengthened surveillance across the area.
He said, “The Commissioner of Police, Anambra State Police Command, CP Ikioye Orutugu, has condemned in the strongest terms the attack in the morning of December 7, 2025, carried out by armed criminals, which resulted in the death of one person.
“Some persons were inflicted with serious injuries, including the church building partially burnt, and other properties destroyed at a church premises in Lilu, Ihiala Local Government Area of the state.
“The CP states that this heinous and abominable act, committed against innocent worshippers, is not only an assault on the community, but a grave affront to our shared values of peace, sanctity of life, and freedom of worship.
“The command extends its deepest sympathies to the families of the victims and to the entire Lilu community and assures the public that the Police shall relentlessly hunt down the perpetrators of this crime.
