The Owerri Archdiocesan Catholic Secretariat has confirmed the release of Rev. Fr. John Ubaechu, the Parish Priest of the Holy Family Catholic Church in Izombe, who was kidnapped earlier this week.
In a statement issued by Rev. Fr. Patrick Mbara, the Archdiocesan Chancellor/Secretary, it was revealed that Ubaechu was freed on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. The announcement came early Thursday morning.
Rev. Fr. Ubaechu was abducted on Sunday evening, March 23, as he was traveling to Owerri for the annual retreat of priests from the Owerri Archdiocese. It was reported that the kidnappers demanded a ransom of N20 million for his release.
While Mbara confirmed the priest’s freedom, he did not provide further details regarding the circumstances of Ubaechu’s release.
The statement on the release captioned, “Notification on the release of Rev. Fr. John Ubaechu”, read in part:
“I am directed to inform you that our priest, Rev. Fr. John Ubaechu, who was kidnapped on Sunday, March 23, 2025, has been released.
“He regained his freedom from his abductors today, March 26, 2025.
“We thank God for his infinite mercy and for answering our prayers. We appreciate your fraternal solidarity and prayers. To God be the glory.”
Reacting to the news of Ubaechu’s release, a parishioner at Holy Family Catholic Church, Izombe, who simply gave his name as Okey, expressed gratitude to God for the freedom of Ubaechu.
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“We thank God for the release of Fr. Ubaechu and at the same time call on the Imo State Government and security agencies to do something about the repeated incidents of violent crimes on the Ejemekuru axis of the Izombe/Ogbaku road.
“ This same axis where Fr. Ubaechu was kidnapped on Sunday was exactly the same area that Fr. Mathias Opara was kidnapped sometime on May 26, 2023, after attending the burial of the late father of a brother priest in Izombe.
“Apart from the kidnapping of these two priests, several other kidnapping and armed robbery cases have been reported around that same spot, suggesting that the criminals have safe routes of escape around there,” Okey said.
He said, to forestall further incident of crime around the axis, a security checkpoint should be established around the place.
