Gunmen have abducted three people, including a seminarian, during a morning service at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Inoyi, in the Affa community of Udi LGA, Enugu state.
The attackers reportedly stormed the church at about 8:30am on Sunday, initially abducting three worshippers.
In a statement, Daniel Ndukwe, police spokesperson in Enugu, said a joint security team comprising police operatives, forest guards and members of the neighbourhood watch group had launched an operation to rescue the victims and apprehend the attackers.
Ndukwe said the operatives, while pursuing the fleeing gunmen, forced them to abandon one of the victims, who was rescued unharmed.
He added that the assailants escaped with the remaining two victims, while Mamman Giwa, commissioner of police in Enugu, had directed the area commander and the head of the command’s violent crime response unit (VCRU) to intensify the ongoing operation.
According to him, the commissioner ordered the deployment of all available operational assets to ensure the safe rescue of the remaining victims and the arrest of the suspects.
Ndukwe said Giwa also directed the assistant commissioner of police in charge of the state intelligence department (SID) to immediately generate actionable human and technical intelligence to support the operation.
He added that the command would activate the surveillance and technical capabilities of the Enugu state command-and-control centre to strengthen the rescue efforts.
“The commissioner urges residents of the community to remain calm and continue to support the police with credible and actionable information,” he said.
“The command is assuring them that every available resource is being deployed to secure the safe rescue of the remaining victims and bring the perpetrators to justice.
“Such information can be reported through the following emergency lines: 08032003702, 08086671202, 112, 09134666668, or 09134448093, or via email at pproenugu@npf.gov.ng.”
