by Rachel Ogbu
Seven years after Rev. Fr. Francis Chidiebele Okoye, a Catholic priest attached to St Mary’s Catholic Church, in Afikpo, Ebonyi State was brutally killed on the premises of the Church, the murderers are yet to be caught.
As parishioners and general public mark the anniversary of his death on July 31, people try to make sense of the killing.
According to reports, it was gathered that Fr. Okoye’s murder might not be unconnected with his profound preaching against cultism, political thuggery and corrupt practices, among other social ills.
Police sources, reportedly confirmed that no arrest had been made since it happened on July 31, 2006.
“You know, it is a murder case; so, it remains open. We are still working on it,” said the source at the Ebonyi State Police Command, Abakaliki.
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The Sun News reports:
Fr. Okoye was slaughtered like a sacrificial lamb on July 31, 2006. The priest, who hailed from Enugwu Ukwu, in Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State and shared an apartment within the Church premises with a fellow priest, was dragged out of his bedroom by his assailants, who took him to the back of the building and slashed his throat.
A source said he was decapitated. “It was a shocking act of violence. It was a gory sight. There was no doubt that Father Chidiebele’s attackers came with the intention of killing him outright. They butchered an innocent man like an animal. He was almost beheaded. This is the height of wickedness and man’s inhumanity to man,” one of the members of the church stated.
“He was a thorn in the flesh of evil people in Afikpo. On and off the pulpit, he preached against the unhealthy moral temperature of society. Some politicians, in particular, were unsettled by his ways because he warned them against encouraging young people to be cultists and political thugs. Perhaps, that was why they silenced him permanently,” a parishioner, who simply identified
