...The priest was killed instantly when armed men opened fire on his vehicle, with reports that others in the vehicle were abducted...
Gunmen have shot dead a serving Catholic priest, Rev. Fr. Mathew Eya, in Eha-Ndiagu community, Eha-Alumonah, Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State.
Fr. Eya, the parish priest of St. Charles Catholic Church, Eha-Ndiagu, was attacked on Friday evening while driving along the Ehandiagu Road. A circulating post on the incident stated that the priest was killed instantly when armed men opened fire on his vehicle, with reports that others in the vehicle were abducted.
However, a source who confirmed the incident on Saturday morning suggested it appeared more like an assassination than a kidnapping. According to the source, the priest, who was travelling alone, was returning from Enugu when gunmen on a motorbike ambushed him near the ongoing Type C hospital project.
“They demobilised the vehicle tyres, forcing it to stop, and then shot him several times at close range,” the source revealed.
The slain priest hailed from Ugbaike in Enugu Ezike, Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State.
As of the time of filing this report, neither the Enugu State Police Command nor the Nsukka Catholic Diocese has issued an official statement on the killing.
