The incident reportedly occurred on Friday evening while the priest, who was the parish priest of St. Charles Catholic Church, was returning from Enugu, the state capital.
According to witnesses, the attackers, who were riding on a motorcycle, intercepted the priest’s vehicle near the site of an ongoing Type C hospital project in the state.
The assassins reportedly shot at the tyres, forcing the car to stop, before firing multiple shots at the cleric at close range.
One source said that the killing appeared to be an assassination rather than a kidnap attempt, according to Daily Post.
“He was coming back from Enugu. The gunmen on a motorbike closed in on him close to where the Type C hospital project is ongoing.
“They demobilised the vehicle tyres and the vehicle was forced to a stop. They then got close and shot him several times at close range.
“So, it doesn’t look like a kidnapping situation,” the source was quoted as saying.
The late cleric, a native of Ugbaike in Enugu Ezike, Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area, was said to be driving alone at the time of the attack.
However, SaharaReporters’ efforts to confirm the incident from the Enugu State Police Command failed as the Public Relations Officer of the Command, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, did not answer multiple phone calls made to his mobile number.
As at the time of filing this report, neither the police nor the Catholic Diocese of Nsukka has issued an official statement on the killing.