Kenyan Catholic Priest shot dead by ‘military men’ in Cameroon – Nairobi News

The priest’s killing comes exactly seven days after another Kenyan priest was tortured before being murdered at the Mazzolari Church in South Sudan.

A Kenyan Catholic Priest, Father Cosmas Omboto Ondari, who hails from Kisii County, was on Wednesday shot dead in Manyu, Cameroon.

According to the St Joseph Missionary Society Mill Hill Missionary’s Formation Center in Cameroon, the priest, who was ordained as a priest on March 26, 2017, was reportedly killed by Cameroon military.

In a statement seen by Nairobi News, Father Richard Njoroge of the Formation Center confirmed the death of Father Ondari who by the time of his  death was serving as the Parochial Vicar of the St Martin of tours Parish in Kembong, the headquarters of Manyu, Cameroon.

“With heavy and broken hearts, the Mill Hill Missionaries in Cameroon confirm the death of our brother and fellow Mill Hill missionary priest from Kenya Fr. Cosmas Omboto Ondari,” read the statement.

SHOT TWICE

Father Njoroge, quoting a source that requested for anonymity, had revealed to a local media house that the deceased was shot twice by the soldiers who fled in a speeding military vehicle.

“The Priest was shot at about 3PM, Wednesday November 21, 2018 directly on the left side of his chest and around his private part. He died on the spot and was preserved at about 6PM at the Mamfe District Hospital Mortuary,” the statement read.

Nairobi News could not independently verify the claims.

Further details from the Mill Hill Missionary reveal that Mr Guylain Agbasoa, a missionary student from Congo was at the scene when the shooting spree started but managed to seek refuge in the house.

TORTURED AND MURDERED

“A few minutes later when he came looking for Cosmas whom he had left outside the church with a group of Christians talking, he was shocked to find Cosmas in a pool of blood by the door of the church!” it read.

The death comes just 11 days after another American missionary, Charles Trumann, who was allegedly shot dead by the military, was laid to rest.

Mr Ondari was ordained as a priest in a colorful ceremony in Kisii by Bishop Joseph Mairura and appointed to Mamfe, Cameroon where he met his death.

Cameroon is facing violence and Mr Ondari was working as a missionary in the area where the armed separatists have declared interest in.

His death comes exactly seven days after another Kenyan priest Father Victor Luka Odhiambo was tortured before being murdered at the Mazzolari Church in South Sudan.