By DADA AYOKHAI
The killing and the dumping of the corpse of a Catholic priest have sparked fresh security concerns in Edo State
Even as the Catholic family in Benin, the Edo State capital is in deep mourning over the death of Rev. Fr. Charles Onomhoale Igechi, residents of the state are apprehensive whether the gruesome murder of the Catholic priest is a renewal of the insecurity that almost paralyzed social activities in the state a couple of months back.
Rev. Fr. Charles Igechi was reported to have died from the gunshot wounds he received from some unknown assailants while on his way back to his base in Benin, from an official pastoral assignment
Until his death, he was the Vice Principal of St. Michael College, Ikhueniro. He was also said to have been recently ordained in August of last year
The news of the death of the easy-going priest made public via a press release signed by the Archbishop of the Benin Diocese, the Most Rev. Dr. Augustine Akubeze, was said to have hit the Catholic family so hard that many of those who heard it could not figure out immediately why his killers decided to snuff life out of an ordinary servant of God.
The release further said the deceased Catholic priest was shot on Wednesday, June 7, while his corpse was later found on Boundary Street, off the Ikpoba Hill.
The release also urged members of the Catholic laity and other devotees to assemble at the Bishop Kelly Pastoral Chapel Center for a mass in honor of the deceased
Edo State deputy governor, Comrade Philip Shaibu was quite saddened upon hearing the news. He immediately despatched a letter of condolence to the Bishop of the Benin Catholic Diocese, Dr. Augustine Akubeze, in which he commiserated with the church on the “sad loss of a devoted servant of God in the vineyard”
Comrade Shaibu, however, vowed that the state government will not leave any stone unturned until the perpetrators of the heinous crime are caught and punished to serve as a deterrence to others.
He also expressed the willingness of the state government to work in concert with the security agencies to ensure the state is unsafe for all criminal elements to carry out their evil enterprise
Showing how deeply pained he was about the circumstances around the death of the Catholic priest, Comrade Shuaib said the death of Rev. Fr. Charles Igechi is an affront to all of us irrespective of our religious bias.
Showing how deeply he was pained by the gruesome murder of the Catholic priest, Comrade Shaibu described his killers as “sadists”, stressing further that the death of Rev. Fr. Charles Igechi should serve as a collective affront to all of us irrespective of our religious bias
