Gunmen suspected to be bandits have burnt down the parish house of Saint Raphael’s Catholic Church in Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State, killing a seminarian in the process.

An eye witness told Channels Television that the bandits in their large numbers stormed the Saint Raphael Parish at Fadan Kamantan, Kafanchan Diocese on Thursday night and set the building ablaze alongside a vehicle parked on the premises.

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.