Abducted Catholic priest was killed during rescue operation – Edo police command says

The Edo State Police Command has said that the parish priest of St. Michael Catholic Church, lkhabigbo, Edo State, Rev. Fr. Christopher Odia, who was abducted in the early hours of Sunday, June 26, was killed during a rescue operation.

Late Odia was preparing for mass that Sunday morning when he was whisked away by the men who stormed his premises.

In a statement released, the state Deputy Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Jennifer Iwegbu, said the abductors shot and killed the clergyman as the police arrived to rescue him. Iwegbu added that one of the kidnappers was also killed during the rescue operation while other members of the gang sustained gunshot injuries.

The statement read

“Following the kidnap of the parish priest of St. Michael Catholic Church, lkhabigbo, Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State, Rev. Fr. Christopher Odia, in his rectory while coming out to go for Sunday mass in the wee hours of June 25, 2022, a combined team of police tactical teams, Jattu divisional police operatives and the local vigilante team, led by the Divisional Police Officer, went into the forest with a view to rescuing the catholic priest.

In frustration, the abductors killed Rev. Fr. Christopher Odia. A hunter, identified as Nurudeen, was also shot dead in the process, while police personnel who went on the trail of the kidnappers decimated one of them with other gang members escaping with various gunshot injuries.

Intensive bush combing is ongoing towards ensuring that those who escaped are arrested and made to face justice.”