Death toll rises to 40 in church attack in Nigeria

LAGOS: The number of people killed in an attack on Sunday in St Francis Catholic Church in Owo, southwestern Nigeria has risen to 40, Ondo state governor Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu said on Wednesday, Xinhua reported.

Sixty-one others wounded in the brutal attack are being treated in local hospitals, the governor told the media in Owo, the town where the church is located.

Akeredolu said 26 people have been discharged from hospitals after treatment.

"Those are the figures we have now," the governor said, adding that a memorial park will be built to bury those killed in the attack.

The state government also set up a bank account for donations to help the families of the victims and the survivors, he said.

On Monday, Akeredolu declared a seven-day mourning and ordered that flags be flown at half-mast in all public buildings in honour of the victims.

In a statement released on Sunday in Abuja, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the heinous killing of worshippers.

-- BERNAMA