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Gunmen Kill Monk After Kidnapping In Kwara, Dump Body In River
Kidnappers led brothers Peter and Anthony to the forest where they had been hiding them
Ilorin, Kwara State – Gunmen have reportedly killed one of the monks kidnapped from the Benedictine Monastery in Eruku, Kwara State.
It was gathered that on the night of October 17, 2023, a group of armed gunmen forcefully entered the monastery, where they abducted Brother Godwin Eze, a novice monk, as well as two postulants, Anthony Mary Eze (pictured), and Peter Olarewanju.
In a statement to the Catholic news publication, ACI Africa, on Tuesday, October 24, Fr. Anselm Pendo Lawani, the administrator of the Catholic Diocese of Ilorin, sadly confirmed the brutal murder of Brother Godwin Eze, revealing that his lifeless body had been callously discarded into a river.
Earlier, the diocese had announced the release of Anthony Eze and Olarewaju and appealed for prayers for Godwin Eze, a novice at the monastery.
“This is to thank all and sundry for your collective prayers over the past several days for the safe release of our brothers, Brother Anthony Eze and Brother Peter Olarewaju. We thank God for answering our prayers,” Fr. Lawani stated.
“However, we are saddened by the news of the gruesome murder of the third brother, Godwin Eze, in the hands of the kidnappers. May God grant eternal rest to his soul, consolation to his immediate family members and to all of us who are left to mourn his passing,”
In an interview with ACI Africa, Father Joseph Ekesioba, a former novice director at the monastery, said that Brother Godwin Eze was shot by Fulani bandits a day after the kidnapping.
“I have been sharing with one of our brothers who was released and he said that Godwin was shot on Wednesday [Oct. 18] at night. The abductors took our three brothers to the bank of a river and shot Brother Godwin. They then threw his lifeless body into the river,” Ekesioba said.
“After killing Godwin, the kidnappers led brothers Peter and Anthony to the forest where they had been hiding them and continued to threaten them, telling them that they too would be killed. Luckily, the two were set free on Saturday evening, October 21,”
Ekesioba said that the monastery was organizing a search to retrieve the body of Godwin Eze from the river.
He told ACI Africa that the monastery had been forced to implement drastic measures following the October 17 kidnapping.
“We have had to relocate our brothers to a safer place since we continue to receive threats of attacks,” he said.