ERUKU, Nigeria — An attack on a branch of the Christ Apostolic Church in the Eruku community of Kwara State on Tuesday, November 18, 2025, left multiple worshippers dead and an unconfirmed number abducted, in an incident partly captured during a livestreamed service.
The church, located in Oke Isegun in Ekiti Local Government Area near the Kogi border, came under fire at about 6pm when more than five armed bandits stormed the premises.
A video circulating on social media shows the congregation praying as sudden gunshots erupt outside.
The worshippers, led by a young pastor, attempted to flee as the shooting intensified before the attackers forced their way into the building.
Witnesses told local media that the gunmen ransacked the church, seized belongings and marched several worshippers — including the pastor — into the bush.
According to The Punch, three worshippers were killed on the spot.
“They started shooting, and three people died immediately. They later rounded up some worshippers, including the pastor, and marched them into the bush,” a witness said.
Benjamin Ayeoribe, a community leader, said Eruku has faced repeated bandit incursions for three consecutive weeks.
“We have begged the local and state governments for help, but nothing concrete has come. We are living in fear every day,” he said.
The Kwara State Police Command offered a more limited account.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, November 18, 2025, spokesperson Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi confirmed that police operatives and local vigilantes responded to what she described as “an attempted bandit attack in Eruku”.
She said the attackers fled after security intervention.
Ejire-Adeyemi reported three casualties: one worshipper, Aderemi (first name not provided), found fatally shot inside the church; another victim, Tunde Asaba Ajayi, discovered dead in the bush; and a vigilante, Segun Alaja, who survived with gunshot wounds and was taken to ECWA Hospital in Eruku for treatment.
She added that Adekimi Ojo, Kwara’s commissioner of police, commended the “swift response” of both operatives and vigilantes, and assured residents that “security agencies will not relent until these hoodlums are totally decimated”.
The number of abducted persons remains unclear, with varying accounts from eyewitnesses, community members and security authorities.
The attack has heightened anxiety in the region, which has seen rising bandit activity spilling over from neighbouring states.
The incident comes less than 48 hours after 25 schoolgirls were kidnapped by gunmen from Government Girls Secondary School in Maga, Kebbi State, underscoring the widening reach of armed groups and increasing pressure on security agencies across northern Nigeria.
