Gunmen kill priest, policeman in Abuja
A Catholic priest, a policeman and a security guard have been reportedly gunned down by suspected armed robbers at a supermarket in Gwagwalada, a suburb of Nigeria’s capital, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. The Catholic priest, Michael Akawu, who is said to be the first indigenous priest of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, was ordained […]
A Catholic priest, a policeman and a security guard have been reportedly gunned down by suspected armed robbers at a supermarket in Gwagwalada, a suburb of Nigeria’s capital, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
The Catholic priest, Michael Akawu, who is said to be the first indigenous priest of the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, was ordained in February 2017. He was reportedly killed at the supermarket on Saturday where he had gone to get some provision for the parish rectory.
Another Catholic priest, Omokwugbo Ojeifo, had taken to his Facebook page on Sunday to announce the killing of the priest.
“This is our human story; this is the story of one of our young Abuja priests, Fr. Michael Akawu, the first indigene of Abuja to be ordained for our archdiocese. He was shot dead yesterday evening by armed robbers at a supermarket in Gwagwalada where he went to buy some provision for the parish rectory. Fr. Michael was ordained in 2017,” Ojeifo posted on his Facebook wall.
A witness simply identified as Chinedu, said two of the gunmen blocked the road leading to Demonstration Primary School, Gwagwalada, while others stood in front of the supermarket shooting sporadically to scare passersby.
Chinedu said the sound of the gunshots attracted some policemen who arrived at the scene to engage the gunmen also attempted to abduct the wife of the owner of the supermarket.
It was gathered that the gunshots forced some shop owners to immediately close their shops, while passersby scampered for safety.
The Commissioner of Police for the FCT, Bala Ciroma, while briefing journalists yesterday at the command’s headquarters, said he would not like to specifically comment on the killings at Gwagwalada so as not to pre-empt investigation which he said was ongoing.