Gunmen Attack Catholic Church Hospital In Benue, Kidnap Reverend Father Days To Christmas

On Thursday, unidentified gunmen attacked and abducted Reverend Father Mark Ojotu, the hospital’s chaplain, at Catholic St. Mary’s Hospital, Okpoga in Benue State’s Okpokwu Local Government Area.

The Diocesan Chancellor, Rev. Fr. Joseph Aboyi Itodo, confirmed the incident in a statement and said that Most Rev. Fr. Michael Apochi, Bishop of the Otukpo Catholic Diocese, had asked Christians nationwide to pray for the priest’s prompt and safe release.

Sunday’s Christmas celebration is just a few days away, and it is still unknown if the cleric’s family has heard about the incident or not.

NEWS DIRECT gathered that there had been a series of kidnapping incidents in the Benue South Senatorial District since the beginning of 2022.

Recall that the late Vicar General of the Catholic Diocese of Otukpo, late Rev Fr John Adeyi, was kidnapped from the same parish in Okpoga in 2016 by armed men who thereafter killed him.

The decomposing body of the cleric was discovered behind the office complex of Ogbadibo Local Government Education Authority in his hometown of Otukpa, by security personnel.