Again, gunmen kidnap Catholic priest along Otukpo-Enugu road

A Catholic Priest, Reverend Father Ibrahim Mark Ojotu has been kidnapped.

According to a statement released by the Diocesan Chancellor, Rev Fr Joseph Aboyi Itodo, the victim, Fr Mark Ojotu was kidnapped along Okpoga-Ojapo road in Okpokwu Local Government Area of Benue State.

Until his abduction on Thursday, December 22, 2022, Fr Ojotu was the Chaplain of St Mary’s Hospital, Okpoga, in Okpokwu Local Government area of Benue State.

In the statement, the Bishop of Otukpo Catholic Diocese, His Excellency, Most Rev Fr Michael Apochi, called on the Catholic community and other Christian faithfuls to remember Fr Ojotu in their prayers for his safe and quick release.

The incident has been reported at the Okpoga Divisional Police Headquarters.

Recall that the late Vicar General of the Catholic Diocese of Otukpo, late Rev Fr John Adeyi, was kidnapped from same parish in 2016 by kidnappers who was killed in the den of the kidnappers.

Fr Adeyi’s decomposing body was found behind the office complex of Ogbadibo Local Government Education Authority at Otukpa, his home town, in June, 2016, by security personnel combing the area.

He had been abducted at Odoba village, along the busy Otukpo-Enugu Road after mediating in a crisis between parishioners and the parish priest of Odoba.