Gunmen on Friday evening shot dead Rev. Fr. Mathew Eya, parish priest of St. Charles Catholic Church, Eha-Ndiagu, in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State.
Community sources said the cleric was ambushed along the Eha-Ndiagu road while returning to his parish from Enugu. The attackers, reportedly riding on a motorcycle, intercepted his vehicle and opened fire.
According to eyewitnesses, the assailants first deflated the tyres of the priest’s car, forcing it to stop, before shooting him multiple times at close range.
“He was returning from Enugu when the gunmen closed in on him near the Type C hospital project. They shot at his car, immobilised it, and then killed him,” a source told reporters on condition of anonymity.
Another occupant in the vehicle was reportedly spared, while the gunmen fled the scene immediately after the attack.
Fr. Eya, who hailed from Ugbaike in Enugu Ezike, Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area, was widely known within the Catholic Diocese of Nsukka.
As of the time of filing this report, neither the Enugu State Police Command nor the Catholic Diocese of Nsukka had issued an official statement regarding the incident.
