The Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Jama’a in Kaduna, has disclosed that Very Rev. Fr. John Mark Cheitnum who was abducted on Friday July 15, has been murdered by his abductors.

His partner, Rev. Fr. Donatus Cleophas, however escaped from his abductors.

According to the Chancellor of the Catholic Diocese of Kafanchan, Kaduna, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Okolo, “Fr. John Mark who was abducted from the rectory of Christ the King Parish, Yadin Garu, Lere L.G.A of Kaduna State, was brutally killed by his abductors on the same day of his abduction.”

His decomposing body was only discovered on Tuesday, July 19.

The statement noted that the deceased who was also the Coordinating Chairman of CAN, Southern Kaduna, would be buried on Thursday at the Cathedral of St. Peter Kafanchan, Kaduna State.

The diocese has also declared two days of mourning for the deceased and urged the public to “refrain from taking the laws into their hands.”

Recall that both Catholic Priests were kidnapped on Friday, while on their way to a function at the Rectory of Christ the King Catholic Church in Yadin Gura town.