Community sources revealed that the priest was returning to his parish along the Eha-Ndiagu road when armed assailants, reportedly riding on a motorcycle, intercepted his vehicle. They opened fire, killing him instantly.
According to an eyewitness, the attackers first deflated the tyres of Fr. Eya’s car, forcing it to a halt. They then shot him multiple times at close range before fleeing the scene.
“He was coming back
from Enugu when they closed in on him near the ongoing Type C hospital project. They immobilised his car and executed him right there,” a source told reporters.Another occupant in the vehicle was reportedly spared and left unharmed, heightening fears that the killing was a targeted assassination.
Fr. Eya, who hailed from Ugbaike in Enugu Ezike, Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area, was well known within the Catholic Diocese of Nsukka.
The shocking incident has left parishioners and residents of the community in deep grief, with calls mounting for urgent action to tackle the spate of violent attacks in Enugu State.
