Two Catholic priests were kidnapped in the Aniocha North Local Government Area (LGA) of Delta State on Friday December 18th, according to reports.
One of the two priests, en route to a ceremony honoring the Bishop Michael Elue of the Issele-Uku Diocese, has been identified as Father Franklyn Odiaka of the Catholic Church of Assumption in Asaba. The identity of the second priest was not known at the time of publication.
The Vanguard newspaper in Nigeria reported that none of the Zappa worshippers were “willing to divulge information as they were said to be preparing for a marathon spiritual exercise of prayer against the abductors.”
It is worthy of note that these abductions come two weeks after the church was broken into and money was stolen from the parish treasury.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PRO) Celestina Kalu confirmed the kidnappings to journalists, and identified them as Catholic priests. Mrs. Kalu said information was sketchy but expressed confidence the kidnappers would be arrested by police.