Rev. Fr. Tobias Okonkwo, a Catholic priest of Nnewi, Anambra State, who was murdered by kidnappers, has been buried.
The deceased priest was killed at Ihiala on December 26, 2024. His burial took place Thursday after a requiem Mass at Our Lady of Assumption Cathedral, Nnewi.
The Holy Mass was presided over by the Bishop, Catholic Diocese of Aguleri, His Lordship, Most Rev Dennis Isizoh, and co-celebrated by the Bishop of Nnewi Diocese, Most Rev Jonas-Benson Okoye, and the Auxiliary Bishop of Port-Harcourt Diocese, Most Rev Patrick Eluke.
The Vicar General of the Catholic Diocese of Nnewi, Monsignor Anichebe Patrick Ezeobata, in a speech, regretted that the deceased died in his prime.
He, however, acknowledged that he lived a worthy and impactful pastoral life before his death.
Msgr. Ezeobata said the late Okonkwo was “a man on a pilgrimage on earth.”.
NewsNGR gathered that the deceased, a pharmacist, was ordained in July 2015. He finished his internship as a pharmacist in October 2024 and was posted to the School of Nursing, Midwifery, and Medical Laboratory Sciences, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Ihiala, as manager.
Fr. Okonkwo was barely two months in office before he met his death, Msgr. Ezeobata said.
The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 general election, Mr Peter Obi, and a former Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget in Anambra State, Prof. Stella Chinyere Okunna, attended the burial.