File photo
Some suspected armed robbers on Saturday shot dead a Catholic
priest identified as Michael Akawu, in the Gwagwalada area of the
federal capital, Abuja.
According to PREMIUM Times, the robbers killed Akawu at a
supermarket where he had gone to get some provisions for the parish
rectory, the director of Catholic Communication, Patrick Alumuku, said.
News of the death of Akawu, who was the first indigenous priest of
the Catholic Archdiocese of Abuja, was first announced by another
Catholic priest, Omokwugbo Ojaifo, on his Facebook page on Sunday.
Citing a quote comprising eight words from a portrait painted by an
artist, Salvator Rosa in the 16th Century, Ojeifo said the death of
Akawu symbolises the frailty of the human existence.
“Those eight words always remind me of the futility of human
life. As the Psalmist says, ‘Human life is a mere puff of wind, days as
fleeting as a shadow’ (Ps 144:3-4). Placed on the scales, we are lighter
than air (cf. Ps 62:9). We are like grass which springs up and blossoms
in the morning but by evening already withers and fades (cf. Ps 90:9).
“This is our human story; this is the story of one of our young
Abuja priest, Fr. Michael Akawu, the first indigene of Abuja to be
ordained for our Archdiocese. He was shot dead yesterday evening by
armed robbers at a supermarket in Gwagwalada where he went to buy some
provisions for the parish rectory. Fr. Michael was ordained in 2017,” Ojeifo said on his Facebook wall on Sunday.
Alumuku who confirmed the shocking news, described the incident as
unfortunate, and called on the Nigerian security forces to be proactive
in preventing crime.
“Yes it is true. Father Akawu was killed when he went to get
some things for his parish at a supermarket in Gwagwalada. He was the
first indigenous priest of this diocese.”