Some gunmen abducted a Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Christopher Onotu, from a church in Obangede, Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi State, on Saturday evening.
REPORTERS AT LARGE gathered that the gunmen were reported to have invaded the church’s vicarage at 9 pm on that fateful day. They destroyed the window of the church, entered the priest’s room, and kidnapped him.
The incident was discovered on Sunday by the church members when they came for morning mass and found out that the priest was nowhere to be found to officiate.
A member of the church said that the priest’s car was not seen on the church premises, creating an impression that the hoodlums might have taken it along with them.
“They dropped his two phones but went with the sim cards”, said a member of the church in anonymity.
The Kogi State Police Command confirmed the incident, saying that they are on the trail of the abductors of the Catholic priest, who was kidnapped in Obangede in Okehi LGA of the state.
The Police Public Relations Officer of the command, SP Williams Ayah, stated that the state Commissioner of Police, Edward Egbuka, has deployed an intelligence team with the view of rescuing the Catholic priest unhurt.
However, he added that the people should remain calm as the police is working with other sister security agencies, including the stakeholders, to unravel the mystery surrounding the abducted priest.
Meanwhile, gunmen suspected to be bandits in the early hours of Monday attacked Gwarinpa Estate in the Federal Capital Territory.
It was learnt that the gunmen operated on the estate between 1am and 4am, abducting a yet-to-be-identified number of residents.
Although details remain sketchy, a resident, who simply identified himself as Mohammed said the gunmen gained access to the Genuine Estate after Efab Queens on 6th Avenue, Gwarinpa.
He explained to our correspondent on the telephone that the hoodlums were armed with bows, arrows, and machetes and were in large numbers.
Daily Trust reports the spokesperson for the FCT Police Command, Josephine Adeh, as saying that the case was a robbery case, not a kidnapping case.
Adeh, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said the police had already been mobilised to the scene to ascertain how the incident happened.
She promised that the public would be duly notified after details of the incident had been ascertained.
Recall that REPORTERS AT LARGE had earlier reported that over 40 people have been reportedly killed in an attack on St Francis Catholic Church, Owa-luwa Street, in Owo town, Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State.
It was learnt that the incident happened in the church, which is less than 200 meters away from the Palace of Olowo of Owo.
