A Parish Priest, Daniel Nwankwo, attached to St Thomas Catholic Church, Onilekere, Lagos was attacked by gunmen in the church on Friday.

Eyewitnesses said the clergyman’s assailants were suspected to be armed robbers who posed as parishioners attending the early morning mass.

It was gathered that the incident occurred around 9 am.

He explained that the victim had just finished attending to a church member when he was attacked.

“They were three in number. The men came into the church as if they were parishioners,” a church member, simply identified as Valentine told TheCable.

“When they arrived here, father was taking confession. As he was walking away after rounding off, they approached him and told him they need N5,000 to use in paying the hospital bill of someone.

“Before you knew what was happening, they had shot him in the stomach.”

Another witness, who refused to disclose his identity, said the attackers scaled the fence after hitting their target.