The Catholic Diocese of Nnewi has announced the gruesome murder of Reverend Father Tobias Chukwujekwu Okonkwo by unknown assailants.
According to a statement released by Rev. Fr. Raphael Ezeogu, Chancellor of the Nnewi Diocese, Rev Fr Raphael Ezeonu, the deceased who is also a pharmacist was shot dead in Ihiala on Boxing Day,December 26 between 7 pm and 8 pm along the Onitsha-Owerri Expressway.
The statement described the incident as a devastating loss but expressed faith in divine consolation.
At the time of his death, he was serving as the Manager of the Schools of Nursing, Midwifery, and Medical Laboratory at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Ihiala.
The Catholic Diocese of Nnewi called on the faithful to offer prayers and Holy Masses for the eternal rest of Fr. Tobias and to console his bereaved family. The Diocese said funeral arrangements of Fr Okonkwo will be announced in due course.
The killing of the clergyman came barely two weeks after the abduction of a 75-year-old retired Anglican Archbishop, Most Reverend Godwin Okpala and their whereabouts have remained unknown.