Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have shot a Catholic priest from St Kelvin’s Parish, Ogbaku, in Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State on Christmas Day.

An Inside source told our correspondent that the priest, who is the assistant parish priest of the church, was about to enter the gate at about 8 a.m. when the hoodlums shot him from afar.

One of the bullets was said to have hit the right arm of the cleric, who was later rushed to a nearby hospital where he is still responding to treatment.

“It happened this morning. He was trying to enter the gate but before he could, a bullet from nowhere hit him. Nobody saw the people that shot him; it was like a stray bullet. Thank God he did not die. He has been taken to the hospital,” the source said.

The Catholic Archbishop of Owerri, His Grace Lucius Ugorji, confirmed the incident but added that the identity of the culprits remains under suspicion. (The Sun, excluding headline)