Monk Killed By Kidnappers To Be Buried December 2

A novice monk, who was killed by kidnappers in Kwara State on October 17, 2023 will be buried in December, 2023.

Recall that gunmen stormed the Benedictine Monastery in Iruku Kwara State on the night of October 17, 2023, and kidnapped Brother Godwin Eze, a novice monk, and two postulants, Anthony Mary Eze and Peter Olarewanju.

A Catholic news publication, ACI Africa, reported that the administrator of the Catholic Diocese of Ilorin, Fr. Anselm Pendo Lawani, in a statement confirmed Eze was brutally murdered and his body thrown into a river.

While Eze was brutally murdered, the other two that were kidnapped; Anthony Eze and Olarewaju were released.

“This is to thank all and sundry for your collective prayers over the past several days for the safe release of our brothers, Brother Anthony Eze and Brother Peter Olarewaju. We thank God for answering our prayers.

“However, we are saddened by the news of the gruesome murder of the third brother, Godwin Eze, in the hands of the kidnappers. May God grant eternal rest to his soul, consolation to his immediate family members and to all of us who are left to mourn his passing,” Lawani had said.

A former novice director at the monastery, Father Joseph Ekesioba, while narrating how Eze was killed, stated that he was shot by bandits a day after the kidnapping.

“The abductors took our three brothers to the bank of a river and shot Brother Godwin. They then threw his lifeless body into the river.

“After killing Godwin, the kidnappers led brothers Peter and Anthony to the forest where they had been hiding them and continued to threaten them, telling them that they too would be killed. Luckily, the two were set free on Saturday evening, October 21,” he had said.

According to the Bishop Shanahan Bulletin, Eze who hailed from Ezilo Enugu-Ezike, Enugu State will be buried at his home town on December 2, 2023 at St Mary’s Parish, Enugu-Ezike by 10.00 am.