ABA, Nigeria, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- A Mormon temple in Nigeria has been temporarily closed following a violent attack by armed men, church officials say.
KSL News, owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, said workers at the temple in Aba have been moved to other places in Nigeria, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.
"The safety of our temple visitors and workers is always our first concern," Scott Trotter, a spokesman, said. "Incidents of violence in recent months in the area where the temple is situated are not necessarily
related to the temple but could put Church members at risk."
An e-mail from a church worker in Aba, dated June 26, described four men armed with AK-47s firing into the closed front door of the temple, leaving eight bullet holes behind.
The temple, which was dedicated in August 2005, was the first built by the Mormons in Nigeria and the third in Africa. The Mormons claim 68,000 members in the country.
Aba, in southern Nigeria near the coast, is a city of nearly 900,000. The city is about 20 miles from Port Harcourt, the major port in the Niger Delta where rebel groups have been fighting for years for a greater share of oil profits to go to the local people.
