Widespread angst and con-
demnation have greeted the
gruesome murder of Rever-
end Father Paul Offu, the Catholic priest
of St. James the Greater Parish, Ug-
bawka, area of Enugu state by suspected
herdsmen.
Fr Offu was murdered last week while
on official duties along the Ihe-Agbudu
Road in Awgu local government area of
the state.
The inspector general of police, Mo-
hammed Adamu, has ordered massive
manhunt for the killers of the priest as
crack detectives from the IGP-Intelli-
gence Response Unit (IRT), the Foren-
sic and Homicide sections of the Force
Criminal Investigation Department
(FCID) were deployed to Enugu state.
Force public relations officer, DCP
Frank Mba, who made the disclosure
in a statement, added that the AIG in
charge of Zone 9 Headquarters had been
directed to mobilise more units of Police
Mobile Force (PMF) personnel to black
spots in Enugu state.
In their reaction to the killing, priests
drawn from Enugu diocese staged a
protest to the State Governor, where
they registered their displeasure over the
frequent attacks by gun men in the state,
chanting enough is enough.
Meanwhile, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has
called for immediate arrest and disarm-
ing of Fulani herdsmen in the South East
region to forestall further violence and
killing of unarmed citizens. President
General of the apex Igbo socio-cultural
organisation, Chief John Nnia Nwodo,
who made the demand while reacting
to the death of the priest, warned that
Ndigbo would no longer tolerate such
heinous act.
He said that “We’re all very angry and
flustered; this is not the first time. Mili-
tant Fulani herdsmen went to a church
in session in Benue state and attacked
the church, killed two priests there and
all the members of the choir. They took
over their uniforms, wore them and
danced hilariously in jubilation of their
dastardly act. They were photographed
and the video went viral in Nigeria.
“The faces of the herdsmen in the vid-
eo were not hidden but not one person
was arrested. This is about the third
priest murdered in Enugu state. I know
about three that were kidnapped and re-
leased after payment of ransom.
“I’ve said it today that if the FG does
not arrest Miyetti Allah people, disarm
them and stop them from the licen-
tiousness they have encouraged them
to enjoy, we’ll begin to retaliate because
self-defence is a legal and legitimate in-
strument of law. We’ll never accept this
again.”
Nwodo equally rejected moves by the
Buhari government to set up Ruga set-
tlements in parts of the country, saying
it was against the people’s wish. “We’re
called a federation but what we practice,
in practical terms, is unitary system of
government where a president will be
in Abuja and tell us we must give up
our land for some foreigners that have
so many similarities with him without
minding how the owners of the land will
feel. That will be over, our dead bodies,”
he said.
Similarly, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo
Youth Council Worldwide (OYC) con-
demned the death of the priest and
urged the federal government to take
more proactive measures to protect
citizens, especially Christians in the
country.
OYC, in a statement signed by its
president general, Mazi Okechukwu
Isiguzoro, raised alarm over what it
called “ongoing deliberate plans with
evil intention to unleash terrorism on
church leaders in Southern Nigeria.”
The group, however, warned that “if
care is not taken, with urgent steps to
halt this ugly trend, youths might re-
volt, along religious and ethnic lines;
there’s need to beef up security around
the churches nationwide.
