Herdsmen Attack Catholic Seminary, Shoot Priest

By Wole Ayodele in Jalingo

Less than a week after the burial of two priests and seventeen parishioners killed in Benue State by herdsmen, a priest narrowly escaped being killed on Monday by herdsmen who attacked Sacred Heart Minor Seminary in Jalingo.

It was gathered that the herdsmen stormed the seminary at about 1:00 am in search of Rev. Fr. Cornelius Koba who they claimed had been preventing them from grazing their cattle on the school premises.

When they eventually got hold of Fr. Koba, who is one of the three priests in the seminary, one of the herdsmen attempted to shoot him in the head but was said to have been prevented by his colleagues who insisted that he should not be killed.

But after being warned to desist from preventing them from grazing their cattle in the school and were about leaving, one of the herdsmen turned round and shot Koba in the leg.

Narrating his ordeal, Fr. Koba told journalists, who visited him where he was receiving treatment, that the attackers stormed the seminary and came to his room where he was attacked.

“They came around 1:00am and got a student whom they ordered to take them to my room. I came out and met them all armed numbering over five. As soon as I came out one of them said ‘see him, kill him’, but one of them objected.

“They struck me with their sticks and when I fell down, one of them shot me in the leg and they left. They also shot and blew the windscreen of my car. One of them opened fire at my window and destroyed my television set and other properties.

“My offence is that I often ask them to stop invading our school for grazing and stop cutting down our trees to feed their cows,” he said

Meanwhile, the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Jalingo, The Most Rev. Dr. Charles Hammawa Hammawa, has condemned the attack and ordered the temporary closure of the seminary.

Hammawa described the attack as regrettable saying the incident is an indication that the security situation in the country has gone extremely very bad just as he urged government to be more serious in handling security issues in the country.

According to him “It is regrettable that as a church, we are only modeling the children to be good citizens of the country, but we are now being attacked unprovoked.

“We thank God no life was lost in the incident, though my priest Rev. Fr. Cornelius Koba was shot in the leg. This is one attack too many. Fr. Koba had only told the Fulani herdsmen to stop grazing on the school premises and they came after him in the dead of the night.

“For the Fulani herdsmen to attack us in Jalingo, is an indication that our security situation in this country has become extremely bad. The primary responsibility of government is the protection of lives and property and we will continue to call on government to sit up,” he said.

He however disclosed that all the students that ran into the bush for safety during the attack had all returned and expressed gratitude to God for their safety.