Anambra Catholic priest is abducted by gunmen.

Rev. Fr. Joseph Igweagu, a priest from the Onitsha Catholic Archdiocese, has been taken hostage by unidentified gunmen in Anambra.

On Wednesday, October 12, Igweagu, the parish priest of St. Joseph Parish in Abata Nsugbe, Anambra East Local Government Area of the state, was abducted while returning home from a vigil Mass at Umunnachi in the Njikoka region.

The event was reported in a statement released on Tuesday in Awka by the Chancellor, Rev. Fr. Prudentius Aroh, on behalf of the Onitsha Catholic Archdiocese.

An urgent request for earnest prayer for the release of Rev. Fr. Joseph Igweagu was made in a message that didn’t specify if his kidnappers had called to demand money or not.

We report the kidnapping of our priest, Rev. Fr. Joseph Igweagu, the parish priest of St. Joseph Parish Abata Nsugbe, to the priests, religious, lay faithful, and all men and women of goodwill with astonishment but firm faith in the love and protection of God. Rev. Fr. Igweagu was kidnapped while returning to his house after celebrating a funeral Vigil Mass at Umunnachi on Wednesday evening, Oct.12.

“We kindly ask for prayers in the hope that his captors will release him without condition. The Onitsha Archdiocese is making every effort to ensure his liberation.

Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) DSP Tochukwu Ikenga of the Anambra police command denied knowledge of the incident when approached.

“Plz excuse me, but there is no such report here. Ikenga urged the Catholic Archdiocese of Onitsha to provide the relevant details so that we could start our investigations for the victim’s potential rescue.