Shooters have kidnapped a Catholic priest alongside Okigwe-Umunneochi Road, between Imo & Abia states, Nigeria’s South-east. The incident took place on Friday.
The kidnapped priest, Chinedu Nwadike, is the deputy registrar of the Spiritan University, Abia State.
He was kidnapped alongside a Catholic seminarian, Emmanuel Nwafor, while they were on their way to Enugu State.
Meanwhile, the Director of Communication of the Enugu Catholic Diocese, Benjamin Achi, has confirmed about the incident, “We received the information from their superiors, Spiritian University. He was kidnapped. He works at the university.”
Achi added that, “The kidnappers are demanding N50 million ransom.”
He elaborated the kidnapping of the clerics as “sad” and said it was worrisome that hoodlums “have turned their attention to ministers of God” in the nation.
“It keeps happening in quick succession, these days,” Achi said.
Moreover, the police spokesperson in Imo State, Michael Abattam, said that the incident took place outside Imo State.
He advised the Catholic community to report the incident to the police, if they were yet to do so, to assist in police investigation.
The police spokesperson in Abia State, Geoffrey Ogbonna, did not immediately respond to call looking for comments from him.
He later promised to call back, but was yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.
Abduction for ransom has increased in Abia state in recent times, specifically in Umunneochi Local Government Area.
The recent incident occurred barely gunmen kidnapped a police officer at Mbala Divisional Police Headquarters in Isuochi Community, Umunneochi Local Government Area of the state.
The kidnapped officer, simply identified as Dickson, is a deputy superintendent of police, and the divisional crime officer in the police facility. He is yet to be released, four days later.
