A seminarian was killed when gunmen who are thought to be bandits set fire to the parish house of Saint Raphael’s Catholic Church in Kaduna State’s Zangon Kataf Local Government Area.
According to a witness who was present, the bandits broke into the Saint Raphael Parish in Fadan Kamantan, Kafanchan Diocese on Thursday night and set fire to the structure and a car parked there.
Sources said the late seminarian, Stephen Danlami, died from the smoke he inhaled while trying to escape from the raging fire, while other priests inside the parish house were said to have escaped.
Shortly after the incident, police authorities in the state said it had launched a manhunt for the assailants.
The spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command Manir Hassan said the bandits stormed the worship centre in droves.
According to him, while the assailants could not enter the main building, they set the house on fire alongside a motorcycle and vehicle part on the premises.
The police spokesman corroborated eyewitness accounts that the victim died due to the smoke he inhaled while trying to escape from the burning building.