Human rights lawyer, Barrister Ifeanyi Ejiofor, has condemned in strong terms the deadly attack on St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, Isiokwe, in the Lilu community of Anambra State, describing the incident as a sacrilegious and barbaric assault on humanity and faith.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, Ejiofor, who demanded justice for the victims of the attack and adequate protection of worshippers in the state and across the country, said churches occupy a sacred place in Christian life and should never be scenes of violence.
“There are few spaces on earth regarded with such reverence, solemnity, and spiritual sanctity as the Church of God,” he said.
Among Christendom, the Church is not merely a physical structure; it is a universal sanctuary, a sacred refuge where the faithful gather to commune with their Creator, seek forgiveness, meditate upon the Eternal Word, and be strengthened by holy fellowship.”
SaharaReporters had reported that two persons, including the wife of a cleric, were killed on Sunday when yet-to-be-identified assailants launched a violent attack on the church.
According to eyewitnesses, the armed men invaded the church in the early hours of Sunday as worshippers were preparing for service.
The cleric’s wife’s body was discovered brutally murdered and partially unclothed, sparking outrage within the community and across human rights circles.
Ejiofor noted that Sundays are especially significant to Christians, adding that, “on Sundays especially, Christians approach the altar with renewed hope, trusting in the manifest presence and divine protection of the Almighty God.”
Ejiofor stressed that places of worship are meant to be safe havens, not centres of violence.
“A place of worship is the last place where one expects the venomous stench of violence, bloodshed, or brutality. It is a sanctuary, not a slaughterhouse,” he said.
According to him, what was supposed to be a routine Sunday service at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church was violently disrupted when armed men attacked worshippers.
“What was meant to be a routine Sunday worship at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, Isiokwe, Lilu community, was violently transformed into a grotesque theatre of horror, a desecration so abominable that words scarcely suffice to capture its gravity,” Ejiofor stated.
He described the attackers as “men whose souls appear to have been fully surrendered to the devil; men devoid of humanity, conscience, or fear of God,” who invaded the church and unleashed a rain of terror upon innocent worshippers during prayers.
Ejiofor said the attack claimed two lives and left several others injured.
“By the time the smoke cleared, and the terrified cries faded, two innocent worshippers lay dead, murdered in cold blood within the very house of God,” he said.
He added that several victims were battling for their lives in hospitals while vehicles worth millions of naira were set ablaze.
“This is not just violence. This is not merely criminality. This is blasphemy against God and humanity. A sacrilege of the highest order. An unpardonable assault on our collective conscience,” he declared.
While noting that security agencies had commenced investigations, Ejiofor questioned the slow pace often associated with such probes and called for decisive action.
“Once again, as so often happens, security agencies have begun what appears to be the usual slow-paced investigation and manhunt for the perpetrators,” he said.
Ejiofor questioned, “But we must ask ourselves, what motivates human beings, if indeed they are human, to desecrate a holy sanctuary and spill innocent blood on the Lord’s Day?
“Are these assailants truly of our land? Are they sons of our soil? Or are they deranged invaders, moral aliens whose hearts have long been darkened beyond recognition?”
“I, therefore, condemn this atrocious, barbaric, and godless act in the strongest terms human language can muster. No explanation will ever suffice. No justification can ever be entertained. This is pure evil,” he said.
He called on the security agencies to cast their dragnet wide, to intensify their investigation, to mobilise all necessary intelligence, and to ensure that no hiding place remains for the assailants he described as cowardly merchants of death.
He also urged the Anambra State Government to deploy “every lawful mechanism of the State to unmask, apprehend, and prosecute these perpetrators,” warning that the incident should not be allowed to undermine the state’s recent relative peace.
According to him, “Anambra has, in recent months, enjoyed relative peace. This isolated eruption of wickedness must not be allowed to distort our trajectory. The long arm of the law will, and must catch up with these criminals.”
Ejiofor extended condolences to the families of the slain worshippers and the Anglican community in Lilu.
“I join millions of Anglican faithful across Nigeria and beyond, in extending heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased worshippers, and to the Church of God in Lilu. No words can ever fill the void, but we stand with you in prayer, solidarity, and grief,” he said.
To those still in hospital, may the merciful God whose altar you sought that day grant you swift healing, restoration, and divine comfort.
Quoting Psalm 34:15–16 from the Christian Bible, he expressed hope that justice would prevail and called on society to resist the normalisation of violence.
He said, “May this eternal truth comfort the bereaved, strengthen the wounded, and assure the entire community that God Himself will expose, disgrace, and judge the wicked.
“The blood of innocent worshippers cries out from the sanctuary floor. It demands justice. It demands accountability. It demands that we, as a people, refuse to normalise evil.
“Let this tragedy awaken the conscience of the State and the nation. Let it galvanise swift action.
“Let it reaffirm our collective resolve that places of worship must never become battlegrounds, and that those who desecrate holy altars must never know peace until they face the full wrath of the law.
“We must not remain silent. We must not look away. Justice must prevail.
