Church demands justice in murder of cleric

The Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) has lamented the gruesome murder of the District Church Council Secretary of Toro Local Council of Bauchi State, Reverend Isah Nanaf. It therefore demanded that justice be served on the issue.

The cleric and a father of five was killed by an unknown gunman on Sunday by the roadside while waiting to board a taxi at Toro. The attacker reportedly walked up to him and shot him from at a close range.

During a press briefing yesterday in Jos, Plateau State, ECWA’s Public Relations Officer, Reverend Romanus Ebenwokodi, said the victim arrived the hospital dead, adding that “his remains have been deposited at the Bingham University Teaching Hospital Mortuary in Jos.”

Ebenwokodi said though the assailant had been arrested by the police in Toro village and was being quizzed, he, however, noted: “We have not been told what prompted him to carry out such dastardly act.”

The spokesman disclosed that the late cleric was 53 years old and married to Rafinda, who is currently pregnant.

He implored the police to immediately unravel the remote and immediate causes of the murder, wondering why such dastardly act on an “easy going gentleman cleric who could not offend anyone.”

His words: “The entire ECWA community received with shock the assassination of one of our pastors in Toro, Bauchi State last Sunday evening. The assassinated pastor, who was recently made the Secretary of Toro District Church Council, was a few days ago shot severally at the right side of the neck, heart, stomach and at the pelvis by the gunman.

“The late Nanaf was standing by the road side near the ECWA DCC Toro when the gunman, who was standing across the road, moved close to him and shot him at a very close range.

“Those who rushed Rev Nanaf to the hospital after the attack said he died on the way due to excessive loss of blood. The hospital confirmed there was an internal bleeding.

“The police that arrested the suspected gunman are yet to tell the church what led to the attack. The police have been unnecessarily quiet since the incident.