On 5 June 2022, a mass shooting and bomb attack occurred at a Catholic church in the city of Owo in Ondo State, Nigeria.

An increase in violence between farmers and nomads in Ondo had been recorded prior to the massacre,[3] and the state's government had recently passed restrictions on grazing.

[5] Those outside the church shot directly into it while those disguised as congregants fired from inside, shooting a boy who was selling candy at the entrance[6][7] and worshippers trying to reach two open sets of doors.

[12] "Another priest who had temporarily left the building prior to the attack said he was walking back to the church when survivors running outside stopped him and told him that a massacre was taking place inside.

[15] The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said on 7 June that at least 22 dead bodies from the attack were in the local hospital's morgue, including two children,[16] and that at least 58 had been injured.

[17][18] Many of the dead bodies at the church had been taken by their family members to a private burial at home, indicating a higher death toll.

[27] Ondo State House of Assembly majority leader Oluwole Ogunmolasuyi visited the attack site and counted at least 20 dead, estimating the death toll at somewhere between 70 and 100.

[29] Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, cancelled his trip in Abuja and went to the scene of the attack;[30] he called it "vile and satanic",[31] as well as a "black Sunday in Owo".

[35] Local elders, including Owo's king Ajibade Gbadegesin Ogunoye III, attempted to calm anger among the residents after the massacre in order to prevent reprisal attacks.

[36] The attack made headlines across the world, with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need issuing a statement that read: "ACN denounces this outburst of violence, yet another terrorist act in Nigeria, one more on the long list of crimes against Christians.

The country in general has been rocked by episodes of violence, banditry and kidnappings that, although affecting all ethnic and religious groups in the nation, have led to a long list of major attacks on the Christian community over the last few decades (...) ACN calls on all political and religious leaders in the world to firmly and explicitly condemn this terrorist attack at the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State, in southwest Nigeria, during Pentecost Sunday celebrations.

[40][41] Bishop Jude Arogundade of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ondo criticized the Buhari Administration for "empty promises" regarding maintaining security and preventing terrorism, telling the funeral-goers they needed to "claim this country back from those destroying it.

"[22] Bishop Emmanuel Badejo, who was among the officiating clergy at the mass funeral, demanded that the government "wake up, sit up and act up to secure lives and properties all over Nigeria.