Catholic Priest Shot Dead by Gunmen Along Onitsha-Owerri Expressway
Rev. Fr. Tobias Chukwujekwu Okonkwo, a Catholic priest of the Diocese of Nnewi, was tragically killed by gunmen on Thursday, December 26, 2024, along the Onitsha-Owerri Expressway near Ihiala.
The announcement was made in a letter dated December 27, 2024, by the Diocesan Secretariat in Nnewi, signed by the Chancellor, Rev. Fr. Raphael Ezeogu.
Born on August 11, 1984, and ordained on July 11, 2015, Fr. Okonkwo was a native of Ekwulumili in Nnewi South Local Government Area. He was also a trained pharmacist and served as the manager of the Schools of Nursing, Midwifery, and Medical Laboratory at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Ihiala.
“With sorrow but stronger faith, the Catholic Diocese of Nnewi announces the death of our dear Rev. Fr. Tobias Chukwujekwu Okonkwo,” the letter read. “He was shot dead by unidentified assailants at Ihiala along the Onitsha-Owerri Expressway between 7 pm and 8 pm. We solicit your prayers and Holy Masses for his eternal joy. May Fr. Tobias rejoice in Paradise forever. May God console the bereaved.”
The chancellor further assured that funeral arrangements would be communicated in due course.
The incident has added to a growing list of violent attacks on clerics in recent times. Just three weeks earlier, Most Rev. Prof. Godwin Okpala, a retired Archbishop of the Niger Province and Bishop of Nnewi, was reported missing along with his driver.
Police authorities are yet to release an official statement regarding the killing of Fr. Okonkwo. His death has left the Catholic community in mourning, with calls for intensified security measures to protect citizens, especially clergy, from such attacks.
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