Catholic Priest Shoots Assistant During A Scuffle

CYRIACUS IZUEKWE

Recently strange happenings have been witnessed among the Catholic faithfuls in Imo State, South East Nigeria.

The Ahiara Diocese has been in the news recently with the Pope ordering compliance by the priests in the rejection of the Catholic Bishop appointed by the church.

While the matter has remained unresolved as at now, another ugly incident again happened in Imo State.

The latest was the reported attempted murder of a priest by a fellow priest.

P.M.EXPRESS gathered that the parish priest in charge of Saint Mary’s Catholic Church, Eziama – Osuama in the Isiala Mbano Local Government Area of Imo State, Rev Father Christian Amusuo, has been arrested by the operatives of the state police command for allegedly shooting his assistant, only identified as Rev Father Precious.

Our correspondent gathered that the priest was being held and interrogated at State Criminal and Investigative Department of the command for alleged attempted murder case.

Rev Father Amusuo had on June 23 allegedly shot his assistant at the parish house after a prolonged argument and weeks of acrimony between the two priests.

P.M.EXPRESS gathered from a  source who explained that the clerics have been having issues, which the parishioners had noticed but could not trace to anything tangible.

According to the source, the alleged shooting was a last minute resort by the parish priest to decisively deal with his assistant who he allegedly accused of being disobedient and flouting his orders.

Angered by the ensuing crisis, Rev Father Amusuo reportedly went into his room and brought out his gun and fired his assistant, but luckily the victim did not die as people, especially the parish workers came to his rescue.

He reportedly sustained serious injury and was rushed to an undisclosed hospital where he is currently receiving treatment.

Confirming the incident, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Andrew Enwerem, said that upon the receipt of the information, the Commissioner of Police, Chris Ezike, ordered an investigation of the circumstances surrounding the allegation.

Enwerem confirmed that the priest was being held at the State CID in Owerri and his firearm has been recovered by the police.

The Police spokesperson said “upon the receipt of the information, the state Commissioner of Police, Chris Ezike, quickly ordered for full-blown investigation into the matter.

“The parish priest is with us and the firearm has been recovered. We are investigating the matter,” he said