Gunmen have reportedly killed a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Nnewi, Anambra State, Reverend Father Tobias Okonkwo.
The incident occurred on Thursday evening along the Onitsha-Owerri Expressway, around 7 p.m.
The tragic news was confirmed in a letter from the Diocesan Secretariat in Nnewi, dated December 27, 2024, and signed by the Chancellor, Rev. Fr. Raphael Ezeogu.
The letter, titled Obituary, featured the photograph of the late priest and was captioned: Rev. Fr. Tobias Chukwujekwu Okonkwo Born: August 11, 1984; Ordained: July 11, 2015; Died: December 26, 2024.
In the letter, the Diocese expressed sorrow while encouraging prayers for the late priest.
It read, “Where sorrow increases, divine consolation increases all the more.
“The Catholic Diocese of Nnewi announces, with sorrow but with stronger faith, that our dear Rev. Fr. Tobias Chukwujekwu Okonkwo died yesterday, 26th December 2024.
“He was shot dead by unidentified assailants at Ihiala, along the Onitsha-Owerri Expressway around 7 pm and 8 pm.
“Till yesterday, Fr. Tobias, a pharmacist and native of Ekwulumili in Nnewi South Local Government Area, was manager of the respective Schools of Nursing, Midwifery, and Medical Laboratory at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Ihiala.
“We solicit your prayers and Holy Masses for his eternal joy. May Fr. Tobias rejoice in Paradise forever, Amen. May God console the bereaved.
“Funeral arrangements will be communicated in due course.”
Efforts to reach the Diocesan Secretariat through the Chancellor were unsuccessful as calls to his line went unanswered.
However, a Catholic priest who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed the incident.
Similarly, attempts to get a statement from Anambra State Police Command’s spokesman, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, were unfruitful as his phone was switched off at the time of this report.
The killing of Fr. Okonkwo comes just three weeks after the sudden disappearance of another prominent cleric, Most Rev. Prof. Godwin Okpala, retired Archbishop of the Niger Province and Bishop of Nnewi, along with his driver.
The duo vanished on December 7, 2024, during a trip to the Umuchu community in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State. They never arrived at their destination, and their whereabouts remain unknown.
Despite the church’s efforts to trace the cleric, no communication has been received, leaving members of the Anglican faithful in Nnewi and the broader Anambra State deeply anxious.
