In Enugu’s Igbo-Eze South Local Government Area, gunmen who are believed to be kidnappers attacked St. Jude’s Catholic Church and abducted Rev. Fr. Victor Ishiwu, the parish priest.
During the event, which took place on Saturday morning during the priest’s weekend all-night devotion with worshipers, the attackers stormed the church and fired repeatedly into the air.
In addition, it was discovered that the gunshot scattered the worshipers, who fled for cover and headed in various places.
“While the priest ran into the parish house and locked himself up, parishioners ran out of the church with some of us running into the bush that night,” an eyewitness disclosed.
The eyewitness stated however that the kidnappers, who allegedly spoke Pidgin English and Fulfulde, trailed the cleric to the Parish House and threatened to burn church facilities if he refused to come out.
“So, when Fr. Ishiwu refused to heed to their warning, the kidnappers forced themselves into the Parish House through the church chapel, which they cut open.
“They gained access and whisked the cleric to an unknown destination. Since that time, we have not heard anything about the priest. Nobody has told us anything about whether the abductors have established contacts with anybody”, the source said.
As of the time this report was filed, Daniel Ndukwe, spokesman for the Enugu Police Command, was unavailable for comment.