Church mourns as gunmen kill Catholic Priest in Edo

.ASUU asks President, IGP to rrest killers of Prof Ajewole

.Says lives of Nigerians should matter to President

Joseph Okwuofu, Ibadan.

A Catholic Priest Rev Father Charles Igechi, has been reportedly shot dead by gunmen in Edo State.

The Priest who was, until his death, serving under the Benin Archdiocese was reportedly shot dead on Wednesday along the Agbor Road, Ikhueniro axis of Benin on his way to his place of assignment.

In a condolence statement issued on Thursday, Catholic Archbishop of Benin Diocese,  Augustine Obiora Akubeze said the Priest, who was ordained in August 2022, was shot on his back on his way to his place of assignment.

Akubeze added that his remains were found by Boundary Street in Ikpoba Hill, Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area of the state.

“With deep sadness and sorrow in our hearts, we wish to inform you of the death of one of our priests in the Archdiocese, Rev. Fr. Charles Onomhoale Igechi, who was ordained on the 13 of August, 2022 and who until his death was the Vice Principal of St. Michael College, Ikhueniro.

“With great shock we received the news this morning that he was shot on his way back to his place of assignment, on the 7th of June, 2023 and his remains were found by Boundary Street in Ikpoba Hill, Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area, Edo State.

“We therefore wish to solicit for your prayers for the happy repose of his soul. I kindly wish to use this medium to inform all priests that there shall be a Mass for the peaceful repose of Rev. Fr. Charlies Onomhoale Igechi, tomorrow June 9, 2023 at the Bishop Kelly Pastoral Centre’s Chapel at 10:00am,” the Archbishop stated.

He said, “it is true, he was killed. Nobody was with him when he was killed by gunmen, you would see how bullets entered his body. His body was found in by pass.

Efforts to reach the Edo state Command spokesperson, Chidi Nwanbuzor, was unsuccessful as at the time of filing the report

Meanwhile, the gruesome murder of Professor Opeyemi Isaac Ajewole, a classmate of the Vice President , Kashim Shettima at the University of Ibadan has drew the attention of the Academic Staff Union of Universities ( ASUU) in the country.

The Vice President, who was shocked by the murder of the Prof Ajewole, a lecturer in the Department of Forest Resources Management of the University penned down touching eulogies about the deceased who he described as a very great fellow.

University of Ibadan Chapter of the ASUU on Thursday asked the Inspector General of Police Alkali Baba to urgently assist the Oyo State Police Command with all logistics support needed to unravel and arrest the killers of Prof Ajewole of the Department of Social and Environmental Forestry Development of the premier University.

Ajewole was gruesomely gunned down by yet-to-be-identified assailants in the evening of Monday, 5 June 2023, in Ibadan, Oyo State.

In a release signed by the Chairman UI Chapter of ASUU, Prof Ayo Akinwole, the Union tasked President Bola Tinubu to take passionate interest and ensure the security system unmasks the faces behind the murder of the Professor of Forest Economics and Urban Forestry.

“The hearts of every ASUU-UI members are bleeding so profusely as if pierced by swords. Our bones shook so tremendously as if our marrows were naked in the tundra region. We condemn in totality the gruesome murder of our comrade, Prof Opeyemi Isaac Ajewole and charge the security operatives to track down and apprehend the perpetrators of this dastardly act, with a view to unravelling the motive behind the incident as well as bringing the perpetrators to book, the union leader stated.

According to Akinwole, the only tribute which the death of Prof Ajewole deserves is that his killers are brought to justice and that Nigerians’ lives should matter to the Tinubu presidency

He noted that “Prof Ajewole’s gruesome murder again reminds us of how valueless human lives have become in our clime.”

He maintained that “death lurks in all imaginable and unimaginable corners of this country and comes cheaply. The Nigerian populace is constantly assailed by terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery, assassination, hunger, unemployment, and many more insidious exterminators of our individual and collective dreams”.

He stated: “the situation of the Nigerian academics is even doubly precarious; they are prophets without any honour at home. Despite their immense contributions to national growth and development and recognitions in the international circle, Nigerian academia are scorned and shabbily treated by the Nigerian state and the public for being unrepentant patriots. It is, therefore, disheartening that academics who cultivate, preserve, and disseminate knowledge for the advancement and development of the society will become victims of societal malady to such an extent as to be targeted for elimination.

The Union wishes to use this teary occasion of Prof Ajewole’s sudden death to call on the Nigerian state to resolutely tackle the problem of insecurity in the country, apprehend the killers of Prof Ajewole and punish them most appropriately. This is the least tribute that this nation can pay to our fallen hero and friend- Prof Opeyemi Isaac Ajewole.”