Gunmen have kidnapped a Catholic priest in Enugu State, Nigeria’s south-east.
The victim, Gerald Ohaeri, was kidnapped on Saturday evening along Ugwogo Nike-Opi Express Road in Nsukka Local Government Area of the state.
The Secretary, Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Province of Nigeria in the South-east, Vitalis Anusionwu, announced this in a statement on Sunday.
Congregation of the Holy Spirit is a religious body of male clerics in the Catholic Church.
Members of the body are often referred to as Holy Ghost fathers.
The kidnap
Mr Anusionwu, also a Catholic priest, said the cleric was kidnapped on his way back from Isienu after a function held in Enugu metropolis.
“We solicit your fervent prayers and supplications to God that he may be released as soon as possible and come back to us safe and sound,” he said.
The police spokesperson in Enugu State, Daniel Ndukwe, did not respond to calls seeking his comment.
Mr Ndukwe, a deputy superintendent of police, was yet to respond to a WhatsApp message as of the time of this report.
Increased kidnap attacks
Like other parts of Enugu, cases of kidnap-for-ransom along the Opi-Nsukka- Ugwogo-Nike Road have increased in recent times.
Civil servants, business owners, politicians and even students have become targets of such attacks in the area.
The latest incident occurred two months after gunmen kidnapped a Nigerian professor, Oguejiofor Ujam along the Opi-Nsukka- Ugwogo-Nike Road.
Mr Ujam later escaped from captivity after security operatives engaged his abductors in a shootout in late October.
The kidnap of the professor occurred hours after gunmen kidnapped an official of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Emeason Chima, along the same road.
He was yet to be freed as of the time of this report.
No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnap of the Catholic priest although a separatist group IPOB has been blamed for the frequent attacks in the region.
IPOB is seeking the secession of the south-east and some parts of south-south from Nigeria