The police have confirmed the incident.

Gunmen have abducted a Catholic priest in Imo State, South-east Nigeria.

The victim, Jude Maduka, was kidnapped on Friday evening in Ogii, a community in the Okigwe Local Government Area of the state.

The Chancellor and Secretary of the Catholic Diocese of Okigwe, Princewill Iwuanyawu, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday.

"He was kidnapped from his new adoration site while on inspection at the new site," Mr Iwuanyawu, a Catholic priest, said.

The victim, Mr Maduka, is the parish priest of Christ the King Parish, Ezinnachi-Ugwaku Community, in the council area.

He was ordained a Catholic priest on 22 September 2012.

"We solicit your prayers that he may come back to us safe and sound," he added.

The statement was silent on whether the kidnappers had contacted the diocese for ransom.

When contacted on Sunday, the police spokesperson in Imo State, Henry Okoye, confirmed the incident to PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr Okoye, an assistant superintendent of police, said the police had launched an operation to rescue the kidnapped cleric.

"We are on the trail of the abductors of Reverend Father Jude Kingsley Maduka to possibly rescue him," he said.

Increase in kidnap cases

Okigwe and Leru-Ihube, two communities between Imo and Abia States, have witnessed an increase in abductions lately.

Catholic clerics have become targets of such attacks in recent times.

In August 2022, four reverend sisters were kidnapped along Okigwe- Umulolo Road in Okigwe Local Government Area of the state.

They were released days after.

Within the same period, gunmen abducted a catholic priest and a seminarian along Okigwe-Umunneochi Road, the boundary between Imo and Abia states.

The victims were released two days later after reportedly paying a ransom.