The Catholic Diocese of Nnewi has announced with great sorrow the brutal murder of Reverend Father Tobias Chukwujekwu Okonkwo, a devoted priest and pharmacist, who was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Ihiala, Anambra State, on Boxing Day, December 26, 2024.
This incident occurs barely two weeks after the abduction of a 75-year-old retired Anglican Archbishop, Most Reverend Godwin Okpala, of the Nnewi Diocese, whose whereabouts remain unknown.
According to a statement signed by Rev. Fr. Raphael Ezeogu, Chancellor of the Nnewi Diocese, Fr. Tobias was killed between 7pm and 8pm along the Onitsha-Owerri Expressway.
The statement described the incident as a devastating loss, but expressed faith in divine consolation.
Born on August 11, 1984, Fr. Tobias was ordained as a priest on July 11, 2015.
As at his death, he was serving the Church as the Manager of the Schools of Nursing, Midwifery, and Medical Laboratory at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital Ihiala.
The Catholic Diocese of Nnewi has called on the faithful to offer prayers and Holy Masses for the eternal rest of Fr. Tobias and to console his bereaved family.
Funeral arrangements will be announced in due course.
The unproved killing of Fr. Tobias and several others in Anambra and the entire country by gunmen have sent shockwaves throughout the community, calling on authorities to act as they should proactively and decisively, including investigating the current incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.
As the Catholic community mourns the loss of this dedicated priest, they take comfort in the words of the statement: “Where sorrow increases, divine consolation increases all the more.”
