It was a day of grief and deep sorrow as hundreds of priests and the laity processed on Thursday to the very spot where a priest of the Nsukka Catholic Diocese was murdered.
It could be recalled that the priest, Rev. Fr. Matthew Eya was shot dead by yet to be identified gunmen while he was returning to his parish at Eha-Ndiagu, in Eha-Alumonah, Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State.
His death has received wide condemnation in the state and beyond.
Still mourning his shocking demise, the entire presbyterium of the Catholic Diocese of Nsukka processed prayerfully to the site where the one of their own was brutally gunned down.
They were led by the Vicar General, Very Rev. Fr. Dr. Amuluche Greg Nnamani, in a journey that lasted over one hour.
Their arrival at the location was greeted with another period of wailing and agony by a crowd of men, women and children.
The Vicar General, Fr Nnamani, who stood in for the Bishop, Most Rev. Godfrey Igwebuike Onah, said “we have come to tell God how we feel”.
“We welcome everyone to the place where our brother and priest left the world.
“We are here to plead with God, to tell Him how we feel. We pray for his happy repose, and for God's protection and intervention upon us,” he stated.
In his homily, Rev. Fr. Vitus Ugwu reflected on the number of priests of the Diocese who have passed on this year.
He spoke thus: “My dear Fr. Bishop, you are living the experience of Job.”
On Fr Eya’s death, he recounted how Fr. Matthew, on that fatal Friday evening, had visited the diocesan secretariat to collect testimonials for his students.
“A young priest, full of dreams for God's people, taken by bullets. We have been served a cup full of tears.
“Our belief in God will not allow us to be swallowed in grief... The Lord, like the voice in Ramah, tells us: cry no more,” he counseled.
NATIONAL POST recalls that the Enugu State Police Command had announced the arrest of 38 suspects after the attack.
