Monk shot, body thrown in river following kidnapping at Nigerian monastery
A diocese in Nigeria announced that Brother Godwin Eze, a monk who was kidnapped on Oct. 17 alongside two others from the Benedictine monastery in Eruku, was murdered.
In a note shared with ACI Africa on Tuesday, Oct. 24, the administrator of the Diocese of Ilorin, Father Anselm Pendo Lawani, said Eze, who was kidnapped alongside Brother Anthony Eze and Brother Peter Olarewaju, had been brutally murdered.
Other sources said the abductors shot Godwin Eze and threw his body in a river.
Earlier, the diocese had announced the release of Anthony Eze and Olarewaju, who are postulants at the Benedictine monastery, and appealed for prayers for Godwin Eze, a novice at the monastery.
In the Oct. 24 note, Lawani said: “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,” he continued.
In an interview with ACI Africa, Father Joseph Ekesioba, a former novice director at the monastery, said that Brother Godwin Eze was shot by Fulani bandits a day after the kidnapping.
