The dead have been taken to the morgue while about 50 wounded people are still being treated in hospital following the attack at the St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo town in Ondo state, said Kadiri Olanrewaju, head of Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Services in Ondo.

The Ondo Police Command has not made any arrests yet nor have they confirmed the identities of the attackers. Islamist radicals have been attacking Christians in many parts of Nigeria.

“We can only confirm that explosives were used and we found three undetonated IEDs (improvised explosive devices) at the scene,” police spokeswoman Odunlami Funmilayo told the AP.

The attackers “sneaked into” the church premises, said the police. Some of them were “disguised as congregants while other armed men who had positioned themselves around the church premises from different directions, fired into the church,” the police added.

The attackers opened fire on the worshippers just as the Pentecost Mass was ending, survivors said.

“There was no warning, no threat, this place has been peaceful,” said Sunday Adewale, who works in the palace of the local chief. “They just looked for people’s soft spot when people are relaxed.”