The priest, whose full identity is yet to be made public, was an academic staff of the Imo State Polytechnic, Umuagwo, in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of the state.
Imo State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Andrew Enwerem, confirmed the incident to Vanguard in a phone interview. According to him, the priest was murdered by assassins on a bush path.
“The police are suspecting that it was a clear case of assassination. The priest was gruesomely murdered along a very lonely bush path that would have led him into Port Harcourt Road,” he told Vanguard.
He noted that whatever happened to the priest might be connected with the bickering and happenings in Imo Polytechnic, Enwerem.
“The police are suspecting that whatever happened to the priest cannot be far from the ceaseless bickering emanating from the polytechnic.
“Again, I wonder why the priest chose to use the lonely bush path on his Toyota SUV.”
He confirmed that although the police have recovered the vehicle, no arrests had been made in connection with the crime.
The PPRO said that police patrol teams were dispatched to the area as soon as the information was passed on to them.
“The youths of the community joined the police in combing the surrounding bushes. The hoodlums simply perfected and carried out their damnable act before vanishing into the thin air.”
“There is the likelihood that the assassins carefully monitored the priest’s movement and laid ambush for him on his track. Honestly, it was a gruesome murder.”
However, he said that the command had expanded its investigation to all parts of the state and was also following all available leads.
