By Chidi Nkwopara
OWERRI—Armed men yesterday stormed Maria Assumpta Catholic Cathedral, Owerri, shooting sporadically and menacingly before kidnapping three unfortunate citizens.

The firing caused palpable confusion within and outside the church premises, as people made spirited effort to scamper into wherever they regarded as safe havens.

Vanguard gathered that all the drivers plying the ever busy Owerri-Port Harcourt and Owerri-Onitsha federal highways abandoned their vehicles on the roads and ran for cover.

Narrating what happened to Vanguard, an eye witness, who gave his name as Azubuike, said the hoodlums operated in three vehicles, including a Ford Focus, Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux.

“There was the usual Sunday morning gridlock at Maria Assumpta Roundabout because of the worshippers going into or out of the Cathedral compound.

“When the firing died down, about three persons, including a knight of the church and a woman, were feared kidnapped,” Azubuike said.

Azubuike said the hoodlums first attacked a Hummer Jeep but the driver drove away, even with his flat tyre, adding that when they lost their target, they quickly kidnapped a woman that was buying a newspaper at the news stand.

It was feared that some people at the vicinity were hit by stray bullets, while armed members of the anti-terrorist squad of Imo State Police Command took over the area.

Efforts made to get the police angle before going to press failed as the mobile line of the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Mr. Linus Nwaiwu, was switched off, while the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Aloysius Okorie, neither picked his call nor replied the text sent to him on the matter.