The Edo State Police Command has reported that a priest, Rev. Fr. Philip Ekweli, and seminarian Peter Andrew were abducted by suspected herders at St. Peter Catholic Church in the Ivukwa town of Etsako East Local Government Area.
Moses Yamu, the command’s spokesperson, said in a statement on Tuesday that officers killed one of the accused kidnappers and captured four others.
Yamu said, “On March 3, 2025, at about 11:30 pm, the command received a distress call from a concerned citizen that armed men, suspected to be herdsmen, stormed St. Peter Catholic Church in Ivukwa, Etsako East LGA, and abducted Rev. Fr. Philip Ekweli and Seminarian Peter Andrew.”
He claimed that the police, working with vigilantes and hunters, quickly arrived on the scene and engaged the attackers in a gunfight, killing one suspect.
“One of the suspects, whose name remains unknown, was neutralized, and his corpse has been deposited at the General Hospital, Agenebode,” he said.
According to the police, the suspect was found with two pairs of rubber shoes, a button phone with two SIM cards, a power bank, a dagger jacket, a bag containing biscuits and Nescafé coffee, and N168,850 in cash.
The four arrested suspects were identified as Murtala Ibrahim (32), Joshua Joseph (31), Sadiq Sheidu (35), and Sunday Bulus (28).
Yamu stated that the Commissioner of Police, Betty Otimenyin, has deployed additional anti-kidnapping operatives and Police Mobile Force personnel to work alongside the military in securing the victims’ release and apprehending the abductors.
Meanwhile, the Bishop of Auchi Diocese, Most Rev. Dr. Gabriel Dunia, has decried the rising cases of attacks on Catholic priests, urging the government to address the worsening security situation in Edo North.
The statement read, “The Diocese of Auchi announces with sadness that at about 9:30 pm on Monday, March 3, 2025, gunmen violently attacked the rectory and church of St. Peter Catholic Church, Iviukhua-Agenebode, Etsako East LGA.
“Doors and windows in both the rectory and church were pulled down amid heavy gunfire. Local vigilantes engaged the kidnappers, but due to the superior weapons of the attackers, the parish priest, Rev. Fr. Philip Ekweli, and a major seminarian serving in the parish were abducted and taken into the surrounding forest.”
The diocese called on Nigerians to join in prayers for the safe release of the abducted priest and seminarian.
There had been no contact with the kidnappers at the time of filing this report.
