No fewer than 50 persons have been declared dead and moved to morgues following the attack on a Catholic church in Owo, Ondo state, on Sunday.

Armed herdsmen had invaded St Francis Xavier church while service was underway and opened live rounds on congregants before detonating explosives already planted in the church.

The initial death toll was 28 according to Olayemi Adeyemi, a member of Ondo House of Assembly representing the constituency, who spoke to Peoples Gazette a few hours after the carnage.

Although the authorities had yet to release official figures of fatalities, a report by Aljazeera has said more deaths have been recorded, pegging the current death toll at 50.

“A doctor at a hospital in Owo said no fewer than 50 bodies had been moved to Owo’s Federal Medical Centre and St Louis Catholic Hospital,” Aljazeera disclosed on their website.

Videos of the attack shared online showed several massacred bodies believed to be of church members lying in a stream of blood.

President Muhammadu Buhari released a statement condemning the attack hours before attending a party with members of the All Progressives Congress on Sunday evening.