The parish priest of St. Michael Catholic Church, Obajana, Kogi, Rev. Fr. Leo Michael, has been kidnapped by gunmen.

The Diocesan Chancellor, Lokoja Catholic Diocese, Rev. Fr. Peter Adinoyi, confirmed the kidnap to newsmen in Lokoja on Thursday.

He said the priest was returning to Obajana from Okene when he was kidnapped on a spot at Irepeni village, Okene -Lokoja road.

According to him, the matter has been reported at the Irepeni Police station.

He added that the army and the Directorate of the State Security were also aware of the development.

Adinoyi said the kidnappers on July 25 called some members of the church to demand a N50m ransom for the release of their priest.

He said the kidnappers later reduced the ransom to N20m and further reduced it to eight million.

Adinoyi said the kidnappers gave the church up till 1pm of July 26 to pay the ransom and threatened to relocate the priest should the church fail to meet the deadline.

He said that the church was unable to meet the deadline for the payment of the ransom demanded, calling on the security agents to assist in rescuing the cleric from his abductors.

The Public Relations Officer of the state police command, DSP William Aya, said he was not aware of the incident and promised to find out and call back.

However, he failed to call back as at the time of this report.

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