Gunmen, suspected to be kidnappers, have invaded a Catholic Church in Enugu State and abducted a seminarian and two other worshipper. One of the victims was, however, freed some moment later.
Witnesses told PREMIUM TIMES that the incident occurred on Sunday morning at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Inoyi, in Affa, Udi Local Government Area of the state.
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The seminarian, it was gathered, had entered the church to conduct Sunday worship alongside some worshippers when the hoodlums invaded the church.
An indigene of the community, who identified himself simply as Christopher, said although three people were initially abducted, the attackers left with two people, including the seminarian.
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“The kidnappers initially abducted the seminarian, catechist, and another person in the church.
“But after they moved with the victims for a few minutes, the kidnappers asked the catechist to go back and then entered the bush with the seminarian and the other worshipper,” Christopher narrated.
Based on interviews with residents and witnesses, PREMIUM TIMES identified the abducted seminarian as Lawrence Chidera Igbo.
The other worshipper was simply identified as Emmanuel.
Video clip
PREMIUM TIMES has also seen a video clip apparently recorded shortly after the abduction.
In the clip, a man, who claimed to have witnessed the attack but did not identify himself, narrated how it happened.
“Rain was falling while we prepared for church. What we saw was that a crowd of people ran towards us, saying that our seminarian and other worshippers had been abducted from the church.
“While we were running around on how to face the problem, police operatives came and enquired of the route the kidnappers followed and we showed them and also joined them in combing the bushes.
“The kidnappers were seven and all had Ak-45. But we retreated because we had no weapons. Should we pursue armed kidnappers empty-handed?” the man narrated.
While he spoke, other residents corroborated his narrative and claimed that they were willing to confront the kidnappers but had no weapons to do so.
“We no longer feel safe in our community because of kidnappers. When we began combing the bushes, they were firing shots at us and we ran because we had no guns,” one other resident said.
The residents called on Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State to assist the community in tackling frequent kidnap attacks in the area.
“We have able-bodied youths and even vigilante members, but they need to be equipped to work.
“We are begging Peter Mbah to help us,” one of them appealed.
Police speak
PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately get a comment from the police on the incident as Daniel Ndukwe, the spokesman for the police command in Enugu, did not respond to calls and a text message from our reporter on Sunday afternoon.
Mr Ndukwu, a superintendent of police, later issued a statement on Sunday afternoon, claiming that the third victim was freed after a joint team of security operatives trailed the kidnappers.
“The operatives, while closing in on the fleeing suspects, forced them to abandon one of the victims, who was immediately rescued unhurt. The assailants, however, escaped with the remaining two victims,” he said.
He further said the joint security team comprised the police, the forest guard and members of the neighbourhood watch group in the community.
‘Intensive operation’
Mr Ndukwe said the Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, Bitrus Giwa, has ordered the Area Commander, Oji-River, and the Head of the Command’s Violent Crime Response Unit to further intensify ongoing operations to track the attackers and rescue the victims.
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The spokesman also said Mr Giwa further ordered immediate generation of actionable human and technical intelligence in support of the operation, while activating the surveillance and technical capabilities of the Enugu State Command-and-Control Centre to bolster the ongoing rescue efforts.
The police chief, he said, also urged residents of the community to remain calm and continue to support the police with information that will aid ongoing operations.
He assured them that every available resource was being deployed to secure the safe rescue of the remaining victims and prosecute the attackers.
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