The Catholic Diocese of Otukpo has announced the alleged abduction of one of its seminarians, Mr. Kelvin Ochai, describing the incident as deeply distressing.
The disclosure was made in a statement issued by the Diocesan Chancellor, Rev. Fr. Joseph Aboyi Itodo, who said the incident occurred on Wednesday at the Bishop’s Residence in Asa III, Otukpo, Benue State.
According to the statement, the Catholic Bishop of Otukpo Diocese, Most Rev. Michael Ekwoyi Apochi, expressed profound sadness over the development and appealed to the Catholic faithful and all people of goodwill to pray for the seminarian’s safe and speedy release.
Fr. Itodo said the Diocese was making every effort to secure Ochai’s freedom and also remembered all other victims currently in the custody of kidnappers across the country in its prayers.
The Diocese, however, did not provide further details on the circumstances surrounding the incident at the time of filing this report.
Meanwhile, the Benue State Police Command said it had not confirmed that the seminarian was kidnapped.
Speaking on the matter, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Orchia Aondogwu, said the information available to the command indicated that the seminarian had gone out to take a bath at a location different from where he lived and subsequently went missing.
“The report in our possession is that the seminarian went out to take his bath, and the place where he went is different from where he resides. After some time, he could no longer be found. For now, it is still a case of a missing person,” Aondogwu said.
The police spokesman also stated that reports alleging an attempted abduction at the Bishop’s residence about two weeks earlier had never been officially reported to the command.
“The rumour was that about two weeks ago, some persons came to the house and attempted to abduct the seminarian, but that was never officially reported to us. It was only after this incident that we started hearing about it,” he added.
He said investigations were ongoing to determine the circumstances surrounding the seminarian’s disappearance.
