The Red Cross says that 16 people were killed at a church service at a university on Sunday. The attack took place Sunday morning during a church service at Bayero University. Gunmen, police said, attacked an on campus Catholic mass using small explosives to make worshippers flee the mass and then shooting them as they ran from the building. Police said an exact count of those killed and wounded was still being assessed as they were combing area hospitals to get an exact figure.
No one has claimed responsibility for the killings, though officials said it mirrored other attacks that have been carried out by Boko Haram a radical Islamist group. The same group carried out an assault in Kano that killed over 185 people in January.
The group is waging a sectarian war with the weak central government of Nigeria by using assault rifles, suicide bombs throughout the northern area of the country and the capital, which are predominantly Muslim.
People who have been killed in the attacks include Muslims, Christians and officials from the government. The group is blamed for killing over 450 people in 2012. In this attack, an older section of the university was targeted by the sect, where religious groups use a theater setting to have worship services.
The campus was cordoned off following the assault and gunfire could be heard in neighboring streets. At first, security officers would not allow rescue personnel to enter the campus. Journalists were also not allowed on the premises. Last Thursday, a suicide bombing was carried out by the group that killed seven people.
