BREAKING: Popular Catholic Priest Shot Dead In Enugu (PHOTOS)

Popular Catholic Priest has ben shot dead in Enugu State.

 

NewsOnline Nigeria reports that tragedy struck in Enugu State on Friday evening as gunmen shot dead a Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Mathew Eya, in the Eha-Ndiagu community, Eha-Alumonah, Nsukka Local Government Area.

Fr. Eya, who was the parish priest of St. Charles Catholic Church, was returning from Enugu when the assailants intercepted his vehicle near the site of an ongoing Type C hospital project.

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According to eyewitnesses, the attackers, who were on a motorcycle, shot at his car tyres to force him to stop before firing multiple rounds at him at close range.

While some residents initially suspected a kidnapping attempt, sources told DAILY POST that the incident appeared to be an assassination since the priest was alone in his vehicle and no abduction occurred.

“He was returning from Enugu when the gunmen closed in on him near the Type C hospital project site. They shot out the tyres, forced the vehicle to a halt, and then fired several shots at him. This doesn’t look like a kidnap attempt,” a source said.

The slain cleric, a native of Ugbaike in Enugu Ezike, Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area, was widely respected in the Catholic Diocese of Nsukka.

As of press time, neither the Enugu State Police Command nor the Catholic Diocese of Nsukka had issued an official statement regarding the killing.