Gunmen invade Catholic church in Lagos, shoot priest

Some gunmen opened fire on Daniel Nwankwo, parish priest of St Thomas Catholic Church, Onilekere, adjacent Lagos-Abeokuta expressway, Lagos, on Friday.

A parishioner, who simply identified himself as Valentine, said the assailant struck around 9am.

He explained that the victim had just finished attending to a church member when he was attacked.

“They were three in number. The men came into the church as if they were parishioners,” Valentine told TheCable.

“When they arrived here, father was taking confession.  As he was walking away after rounding off, they approached him and told him they need N5,000 to use in paying the hospital bill of someone.

“Before you knew what was happening, they had shot him in the stomach.”

Another witness, who refused to disclose his identity, said the attackers scaled the fence after hitting their target.

He said an associate priest of the church rushed Nwankwo to an undisclosed hospital for treatment.

Policemen were seen in the church premises when TheCable visited on Friday afternoon.

Some parishioners also converged on the place, discussing the matter.

Olarinde Famous-Cole, spokesman of the Lagos police command, did not respond to TheCable’s inquiries on the development which happened one week after Cyriacus Onunkwo, also a Catholic priest, was abducted and killed in Imo state.

Onunkwo was abducted on Friday at Banana junction in Orlu local government area of the state.

His corpse was found in Omuma the following day.

Six persons, including a policeman, have been arrested in connection with the death of Onunko.