Nine days after he was kidnapped, the Catholic Priest of St. Peter’s Catholic Church, Ivukwa, in the Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State, Rev. Fr. Peter Ekweli, has been released by his abductors.
But the fate of the seminarian who was abducted with him, Peter Andrew, remained unknown.
A viral video on Thursday showed a kidnap victim, surrounded by uniformed men believed to be vigilantes, claiming that he was kidnapped and put in the same location with the priest and seminarian.
The victim said they were all forced to close their eyes, and in the process, they heard a gunshot.
Then, they were told to open their eyes, and they saw the seminarian battling for his life before he died.
He said they trekked to a place in Edo Central from where he escaped.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Moses Yamu, claimed that the priest had been rescued by the police and that the police would soon come up with an official statement.
According to a source, the Catholic Church will also issue a statement on Friday about the priest’s release.
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.