Gunmen have killed a Catholic priest, Reverend Father Matthew Eya, in Enugu State, Nigeria’s South-east. Witnesses said the cleric was shot dead on Friday evening along the Eha-Alumonah–Eha-Ndiagu Road in Nsukka Local Government Area.
Eya, the parish priest of Saint Charles Catholic Church, Eha-Ndiagu, was returning from Enugu Urban when hoodlums ambushed him. One witness explained that the attackers, who rode on a motorcycle, targeted his Toyota Camry. “The gunmen first shot at his tyres and deflated them before shooting the reverend father at close range. We initially thought they were kidnappers. But, considering that they were only interested in killing the priest, it is clear they were assassins,” the source said.
A video clip recorded shortly after the incident and circulated on Facebook showed the cleric’s ash-coloured Camry riddled with bullet holes, its tyres deflated and the driver’s window shattered, with blood stains on the driver’s seat.
The Catholic Diocese of Nsukka confirmed the killing. In a statement on Saturday, the diocese’s chancellor, Reverend Father Cajetan Iyidobi, described the death as “devastating.” He said: “Shocked to the marrow, it is with crushing pain and sorrow, yet a total submission to the will of the Almighty God and a firm hope in the resurrection of the dead, that I inform you of the tragic death of yet another brother of ours, Rev. Fr. Matthew Eya.” He called on Catholic faithful and Christians to pray for the repose of the priest’s soul.
Enugu and other parts of Nigeria’s South-east have faced persistent insecurity, with frequent violent attacks blamed by authorities on the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). The separatist group, which is pushing for an independent Biafra carved out of the South-east and parts of the South-south, has repeatedly denied responsibility for the killings.
