Gunmen Kill Catholic Priest in Anambra As Retired Anglican Bishop Remains Missing

David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka

The Catholic Diocese of Nnewi has announced that a priest of the diocese, Reverend Father Tobias Chukwujekwu Okonkwo, has been brutally murdered.

This incident was coming barely two weeks after the abduction of a 75-year-old retired Anglican Archbishop, Most Reverend Godwin Okpala, of the Nnewi Diocese, whose whereabouts remains unknown.

According to a statement signed by Rev. Fr. Raphael Ezeogu, Chancellor of the Nnewi Diocese, Fr. Tobias was killed between 7p.m. and 8p.m. along the Onitsha-Owerri Expressway.

The statement described the incident as a devastating loss, saying he was a devoted priest and pharmacist, who was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Ihiala, Anambra State, on Boxing Day, December 26, 2024.

The 40 years old priest as at the time of his death, was said to be serving as the Manager of the Schools of Nursing, Midwifery, and Medical Laboratory at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Ihiala.
The Catholic Diocese of Nnewi has called on the faithful to offer prayers and Holy Masses for the eternal rest of Fr. Tobias and to console his bereaved family.