BREAKING: Gunmen kidnap Catholic Archbishop Moses of Owerri with his driver

Unknown gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have abducted the Auxiliary Catholic Archbishop of Owerri, Most Reverend Moses Chikwe.

Our correspondent learnt that the Archbishop was kidnapped alongside his driver at the World Bank area of Owerri, the state capital.

The incident which occurred at about 8pm Monday, jolted resident and adherents of the Catholic faith

Witnesses said the cleric was kidnapped alongside with his driver in his official car.

But the car it was gathered was later returned to Assumpta roundabout while the occupants were believed to have been taken to an unknown destination.

Confirming the incident, the State Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO) Orlando Ikeokwu who said the police got wind of the incident via social media affirmed that the incident actually happened on Sunday evening.

He said the State Police Commissioner, Isaac Akinmoyede has already set machinery in motion to arrest the culprits.

“The Commissioner of Police has activated the Commands Quick Intervention Team (QUIT) and the Anti Kidnapping Unit (AKU), to move into the matter with a view to rescue the Bishop and possibly arrest the hoodlums.” Ikeokwu said.

Meanwhile, Newsflash247 had earlier reported that unknown gunmen suspected to be bandits have killed an uncle to the lawmaker representing Safana Constituency in the Katsina State House of Assembly, Sama’ila Supa and abducted a newly wedded couple in the area.

The incident happened in the early hours of Monday at Rumka community.

The lawmaker, Abduljalal Haruna, who confirmed the incident, said his uncle, Mr Supa, was killed by the gunmen when he resisted attempts to kidnap him.

“All these are happening despite the presence of security personnel in the area where my uncle was killed.

“The distance between (the location of the security officials) is approximately five kilometres to where the gunmen operated freely,” Mr Haruna said.

The lawmaker said kidnapping is almost a daily nightmare for residents of communities in Safana Local Government Area.

“Last night at Babban Duhu Community, they abducted 13 people but seven of the abductees later escaped and returned home, many others were shot, they are currently responding to treatment at the hospital,” the lawmaker added.

The slain Mr Supa was buried on Monday.

The Imam, Umar Yakubu, middle, giving a funeral tribute at Rumka Cemetery, in Safana, on Monday, 28th December, 2020.

While delivering a funeral tribute to the deceased, the deputy imam of Izala Mosque in Rumka community, Umar Yakubu, admonished leaders to take responsibility and defend the lives of citizens.

He said the government needs to do more as citizens are being killed at will; urging residents to rise in self-defence against the gunmen.

“It’s better to die while defending yourself than to fold your hands watching them killing you. We will all die when the time comes, even without you being killed. We will all account for our deeds on the day of resurrection,” the Imam said.

Residents said the couple were abducted on Monday, about a week after their wedding ceremony.

A resident identified the groom as Sama’ila Abdullahi and named the bride as Zainab Isma’il.

He said the gunmen are yet to contact members of their families for ransom.

Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Gambo Isah, confirmed the incident to Newsflash247 on Monday.

Isah, however, stated that he was making efforts to contact the Divisional Police Officer in the local government for more details.

He said that security agents are doing their best to secure the vulnerable communities.

Isah said the gunmen attack several communities at once in coordinated attacks making it difficult to repel all the attacks.

He said residents of such communities should also cooperate with the police to identify informants and sympathisers of the bandits in their communities.

The security agents are doing their best and successfully repelling many attacks across the state, the police spokesperson said.

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