CURFEW ENFORCED IN OKENE FOLLOWING CHURCH ATTACK

Report reaching Aran-orin news desk has it that tensions remain high in Otite, on the outskirts of Kogi State's Okene, after Monday's Church attack. With local police chief Muhammadu Katsina confirming that twenty people were killed, including the Deeper Life Bible church's pastor, Stephen Lambe, Nigerian National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) spokesman Yushau Shuaib told AGI that several of the 17 injured remain critical. Monday's violence was followed up yesterday by the killing of two soldiers guarding Okene's central mosque. With the military dispatched on fears of a reprisal against the city's Muslim community, one resident told AGI that the shootings rank as a "likely warning of attacks" to come. Security officials have, meanwhile, enforced a curfew and have banned motorcycle taxi traffic. Officials described the measures as essential "to restoring public order." Police chief Katsina confirms that no arrests have been affected in relation to Monday's attacks and that the focus of investigations, at present, lies with Boko Haram fundamentalists. Despite being responsible for the death of an estimated 1600 people since 2009, the Islamic terrorist group has a minimal bearing on Kogi State affairs. Significantly, Monday's church attack coincided with the arrest of 17 local criminals and the seizure of explosives and Kalashnikov assault rifles