Church attack kills 16 in Nigeria

Gunmen fired on a crowd at a church in central Nigeria killing at least 16 people including the pastor, the military said Tuesday. The attack at the Deeper Life Bible Church in Okene in Kogi state came without warning, The Nation newspaper in Lagos, Nigeria, reported. Witnesses said gunmen blocked all entrances to the church, preventing people from escaping, as they fired indiscriminately at those inside. Among the dead was the church pastor. The injured included a dean from the Federal College of Education. There was no immediate word on how many people were in the church at the time or how many were injured. Authorities told The Sun newspaper in Lagos that police will find the perpetrators and bring them to justice. Nigeria is largely divided into a Muslim north and Christian south. The radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram has been blamed for hundreds of deaths in the country this year alone.