Gunmen have abducted a Catholic priest along Okigwe-Umunneochi Road, between Imo and Abia states, Nigeria’s South-east.
The incident happened on Friday.
The abducted priest, Chinedu Nwadike, is the deputy registrar of the Spiritan University, Abia State.
He was abducted alongside a Catholic seminarian, Emmanuel Nwafor, while they were on their way to Enugu State.
The Director of Communication of the Enugu Catholic Diocese, Benjamin Achi, confirmed the incident to PREMIUM TIMES, Monday morning.
“We got the information from their superiors – Spiritan University. He (Mr Nwadike) was kidnapped. He works at the university,” he said.
Mr Achi, a Catholic priest, said the kidnappers are demanding N50 million ransom.
He described the abduction of the clerics as “sad” and said it was worrisome that hoodlums “have turned their attention to ministers of God” in the country.
“It keeps happening in quick succession, these days,” Mr Achi said. When contacted, the police spokesperson in Imo State, Michael Abattam, said the incident happened outside Imo State.
He advised the Catholic community to report the incident to the police, if they were yet to do so, in order to aid police investigation.
The police spokesperson in Abia State, Geoffrey Ogbonna, did not immediately respond to calls seeking comments from him.
He later promised to call back, but was yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.
Source: premiumtimesng.com
