Kidnapped Owerri bishop not dead- Catholic church

The Archbishop of Owerri Catholic, A. Obinna, has described as false the news making the rounds that the auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese, Moses Chikwe, who was kidnapped on Sunday in Owerri, the Imo state capital, had been killed by his abductors. 

 There were reports on Tuesday evening that the corpse of the prelate was allegedly found somewhere at the Ngor Okpala Local Government Area of the state, causing panic in the state. 

 But the archbishop of the archdiocese in a statement swiftly issued by Rev. Fr. Nnaemeka Njezi, who is the assistant secretary of the Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri, stated that there was no truth in the death rumor. 

 The statement, which described the news as misleading, asked the Catholic faithful to be prayerful. It stated that the archdiocese was hopeful that the abducted prelate would be released unhurt. 

 The statement read, “His grace, Most Rev Anthony Obinna, Archbishop of Owerri, hereby requests all Christ’s faithful and people of goodwill at large to disregard the purported news feed by one Useni Yusuf at AJ press on the killing of the auxiliary bishop of Owerri Archdiocese, Most Rev Moses Chikwe. 

 “This information is unconfirmed, misleading and does not come from the Catholic Archdiocese of Owerri. 

 “We continue to appeal that (we) all join the archbishop in prayers for the release of Bishop Chikwe and Mr Ndubuisi Robert, his driver.”