An Austrian political analyst and Chairman of the Austrian Committee for NATO Enlargement, Gunther Fehlinger-Jahn, has forcefully condemned last Tuesday’s deadly assault on a church in Kwara State, describing the violence as “utterly unacceptable” and calling for immediate foreign military intervention.
The call to action came in reaction to a video of the attack, which Fehlinger-Jahn said was sent to him. He posted his response on the social media platform X on Wednesday, a day globally marked as ‘Red Wednesday’ to raise awareness about the persecution of Christians.
“I got this video sent of an Islamist attack on a Church in Nigeria. Today is #RedWednesday, the global awareness day against the persecution of Christians,” Fehlinger-Jahn wrote.
He continued, “What is happening in Nigeria is utterly unacceptable. It is time for military intervention.”
In a direct appeal that has drawn significant attention, the analyst tagged the official X account of the United States President, urging a swift and decisive naval deployment.
“On #RedWednesday, this shocking evidence hits hard @POTUS Act now. Send the Navy,” his post concluded.
The incident that sparked the international outcry occurred in Eruku, a community in the Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State. The Kwara State Police Command had earlier confirmed that suspected bandits killed at least two people and injured one during coordinated attacks in the town, with a parish of the Christ Apostolic Church listed among the targets.
However, preliminary reports from the scene, gathered by The PUNCH, suggest a higher casualty figure. Sources indicated that three worshippers were shot dead at the scene, while the church pastor and an unspecified number of congregants were abducted and taken into a nearby bush.
The attack and the subsequent forceful reaction from a European political figure have intensified scrutiny on the security situation in parts of central Nigeria, where criminal gangs often referred to as bandits frequently carry out killings and kidnappings for ransom.
