Sit-At-Home Order: Gunmen Kill Priest ‘For Inviting Soldiers To Protect School’ In Imo

Emeka Merenu, a priest with the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, has been killed by yet-to-be-identified gunmen in Iheteukwa, Orsu LGA of Imo state.

Merenu was shot in his parsonage in the early hours of Tuesday.

A car belonging to the priest, who hails from Amorji Agbomori in Nkwerre LGA, was also set ablaze.

The killing of the priest comes hours after gunmen invaded Comprehensive Secondary School, Nkume in Njaba LGA of Imo, and chased away students who were participating in the ongoing 2021 West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (WASSCE), on Monday.

Sources told TheCable that the hoodlums attacked the priest in his parsonage for allegedly inviting soldiers to secure the mission school, where he serves as the principal.

Michael Abattam, police spokesperson in the state, told TheCable that the command is yet to get such report.

“You are just informing me about this incident. The command will investigate the matter and make our stand known in no distant time,” he told TheCable over the phone.

The development comes amid the sit-at-home order by the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which has grounded activities in parts of the south-east.

Some private school owners in Imo had expressed concern that the sit-at-home order has disrupted their scheduled resumption of school activities.

IPOB had, on July 30, ordered a sit-at-home in the south-east every Monday until Nnamdi Kanu, its leader, is released from the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).

Although the group had later announced a suspension of the order, there have been attacks in parts of the south-east allegedly linked to enforcement of the directive.

This story is published in partnership with Report for the World, a global service program that supports local public interest journalism.