An Anglican priest, the Rev Emmanuel Ezeokwe, has been shot dead by unknown gunmen in his vicarage in Zinai village, Song Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Nigeria. The attack took place in the early hours of 22 April 2026 at the parish house of an Anglican congregation in the Diocese of Yola, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion).
According to local media reports, armed men entered the vicarage compound shortly before 1.00 a.m. and opened fire on the priest inside his residence before fleeing the scene. Neighbours alerted security agencies at about 6.30 a.m., and police officers dispatched to the area found the priest critically injured. He was taken to a nearby hospital where he was confirmed dead on arrival.
The Adamawa State Police Command has confirmed the killing and said an investigation is under way. A police spokesperson stated that efforts were being made to identify and apprehend the assailants and appealed to the public for information. As of publication, no arrests have been announced, no group has claimed responsibility and the motive for the attack has not been disclosed.
The victim was identified in church and media reports as the vicar of the Anglican church in Zinai, serving under the Diocese of Yola. Church media channels noted that he was killed “in the vicarage”, underlining that the attack took place in the clergy residence attached to the parish.
Nigerian outlets, including Premium Times and Blueprint, have reported the killing in the context of ongoing insecurity in Adamawa and the wider north‑east, where rural communities have faced repeated attacks by armed groups in recent years. Local reporting describes a pattern of night‑time raids by gunmen on villages with limited security presence and slow response times from law enforcement.
On social media, the case has attracted national attention after being carried by church broadcasters and secular platforms. Posts on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) from Anglican and other Christian users expressed concern at the apparent targeting of a priest in his home and criticised what they described as inadequate protection for clergy serving in rural areas. Some commentators linked the killing to previous attacks, kidnappings and murders involving Christian clergy and lay leaders in northern and central Nigeria, while acknowledging that the specific circumstances of the Zinai incident remain under investigation.
Adamawa State has experienced recurring attacks on villages and farming communities attributed to armed bandits and other non‑state actors, with local officials and analysts citing porous borders between local government areas and relatively weak security infrastructure in remote settlements. Reports on the Zinai case note that the vicarage, like many clergy residences in rural Nigeria, had no permanent security presence at the time of the attack.
As of the time of writing, formal public statements from the Diocese of Yola or the national leadership of the Church of Nigeria regarding Rev Ezeokwe’s killing had not yet been widely circulated.