Gunmen, Sunday, abducted the wife of the General Manager of Imo State Zoological Garden and Wild Life Park, Nekede, Owerri West Local Government Area, Mrs. Elizabeth Abioye.

Our correspondent gathered that the gunmen seized Mrs. Abioye at First Baptist Church, Wetheral Road, Owerri, where she had gone for evening service.

The source said the abductors stormed the church in a Sienna vehicle and whisked the woman away.

“The gunmen came with an ash-colour Sienna vehicle, forced the woman into the vehicle and zoomed off.

“The situation created pandemonium in the church, as worshippers ran shelter skelter”, the source stated.

The church is situated some metres away from the Owerri Police Area Command.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Michael Abattam had yet to respond to inquiry as at the time of filing this report.

In a related development, kidnappers in a tricycle on Sunday abducted an 11-year-old boy in a Catholic Church premises in Awka, capital of neighbouring Anambra State.

According to a source, the kidnapping syndicate which comprised of an elderly man and a middle-aged man stormed the church premise pretending to be looking for the parish catechist.

The source further hinted that the boy had attended morning mass when the kidnappers came and he decided to help them locate the parish catechist, however, in the process they kidnapped him.

The information was narrated by Ogazi Ejesieme, in Awka. He said the victim is his nephew and was taken from the Annunciation Catholic Church, Awka, where the boy had attended mass.

“My 11-year-old nephew was kidnapped on Sunday at the Annunciation Catholic Chaplaincy, Awka where he went for Sunday mass.

“The suspects were an elderly man with his Keke friend and they came pretending to be looking for the parish catechist. In a bid for him to help them look for the catechist, the only thing he could remember was seeing himself inside their Keke and the rest was history,” he said.

Ejesieme, however, said that the good news was that the boy was miraculously abandoned at Amawbia, a neighbouring community to Awka.

“The good news is that God was able to arrest his kidnappers and they abandoned him at ‘Ugwu Tank’ Amawbia and fled.

“They got to the Catholic Church at Ugwu Tank Amawbia and dumped him there and left,” he said.

He admonished people to be careful, saying: “This is a very critical time and I urge every church, school, recreation centres, parents and guardians to be extra vigilant because of the men of the underworld prowling around the cities looking for the unsuspecting innocent people to devour.”

The state police public relations officer, DSP Toochukwu Ikenga, when contacted said he has no information about the kidnap incident.

He advised the family to officially lodge their complaint to the nearest police station. (Based on reports by Sunday Vanguard and Daily Trust)

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