Photo: Collected

LAGOS, Nov 19, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Gunmen on Tuesday killed two people in an attack on a church in western Nigeria, according to a video of the incident and a police statement.

The attack comes after US President Donald Trump at the start of November threatened military action over what he claims are the killing of Nigeria's Christians, a narrative which the Nigerian government has rejected.

Africa's most populous country is divided between a predominantly Christian south and a Muslim-majority north.

It is the scene of numerous conflicts, including jihadist insurgencies, which kill both Christians and Muslims, often indiscriminately.

A scourge of criminal gangs, known locally as bandits, loot villages while ransoming, kidnapping, and killing residents across the north of Nigeria. They regularly target churches and mosques.

The attack took place at a church in the town of Eruku in Kwara state on Tuesday evening, and was filmed by a church camera recording the service.

The video showed the church service being interrupted by gunfire, and children are heard screaming outside. An armed man is seen chasing worshippers, while others steal people's belongings.

Eruku police, "in collaboration with vigilantes, swiftly responded to the sound of gunshots emanating from the outskirts of the town, prompting the hoodlums to flee into the bush," the Kwara state police said in a statement released overnight.

"Upon thorough search of the area, one male victim; Mr Aderemi was discovered fatally shot inside the Christ Apostolic Church... while one Mr Tunde Asaba Ajayi another victim of fatal gunshot was found in the bush," the statement said, adding another man wounded in the attack was immediately rushed to hospital.

Kwara state governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has "sought immediate deployment of more security operatives to support the existing security architecture in the area," according to a statement on Wednesday morning by his chief press secretary.

The state has witnessed a series of bandit attacks in recent months, prompting Nigerian President Bola Tinubu in October to deploy military personnel to flush out gang bases in the state's forests.