Police launch manhunt for kidnappers as Imo Catholic priest regains freedom

The Imo State Police Command has launched a manhunt for the abductors of a priest of the Owerri Catholic Archdiocese, Rev. Fr. Marcel Onyeocha.

Onyeocha, a professor of Philosophy at the Imo State University, Owerri, was kidnapped on Saturday and was freed by his abductors in the early hours of Monday.

He was dropped off at the Ihube end of the Enugu-Okigwe Expressway by his abductors, the same area where he was kidnapped.

The Provincial Secretary of the Claretian Missionaries, Rev. Fr. Matthew Iwuagwu, who confirmed the release of the priest, said he was dropped off by his captors in Ihube community in the early hours of Monday.

The release of the priest was repeatedly announced on Ozisa FM, Owerri, a radio station owned by the archdiocese.

The spokesman for the Imo State University, Owerri, Ralph Obinjoku, told our correspondent that the university was glad that the priest had been freed by the gunmen.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Orlando Ikeokwu, also confirmed the release of the priest when our correspondent contacted him on Monday.

He disclosed that a manhunt for the kidnapers had been launched by the command.

The police had disclosed on Sunday that an eyewitness to the incident made a statement that the priest was abducted by suspected Fulani herdsmen.