On June 26, 2022, the nation was shocked by the news that a Catholic priest from Edo, Rev. Christopher Odia, who had been abducted earlier, had been killed by his captors.
The PUNCH reported that Odia was kidnapped on her way to Sunday Mass at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, Ikabigbo in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State.
Just a day earlier, on June 25, 2022, gunmen suspected of being terrorists killed a Catholic priest based in Kaduna State, Reverend Fr. Vitus Borogo.
Likewise, on July 6, the priest presiding over the parish of the Holy Spirit, Eke-Olengbeche, Rev.Fr. Peter Amodu, was abducted by gunmen along Otukpo Ugbokolo Road in Okpokwu Local Government Area of Benue State.
Like the late priest Odia, Amu was abducted on his way to mass.
Catholic priests in Nigeria in recent weeks have not been spared the growing insecurity in parts of the country despite the assertion by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret’d), that security is fine under his diet.
A report by The PUNCH revealed that over 3,478 Nigerians were killed and 2,256 abducted in seven months between December 2021 and June 15, 2022.
There is no doubt, however, that Nigeria is in trouble with armed actors running across the country seizing and killing Nigerians with reckless abandon.
However, ransom-hungry terrorists have recently fallen in love with Catholic priests.
“At least 18 priests have been kidnapped in Nigeria since the start of 2022, five in the first week of July alone. Although most were released unharmed, three were killed,” Aid to the Church in Need, a global Catholic charity, noted in a press release sent to our correspondent on Tuesday.
“It is truly sad that as part of their normal pastoral activities, priests have become an endangered species.
“Attempts have been made at various levels to cry out to the government, the priests say, but as the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria has already observed, it is clear to the nation that the government has failed in its primary duty to protect the lives of Nigerian citizens,” the religious charity noted.
Commenting on the developments, ACN noted that the Diocesan Association of Nigerian Catholic Priests, in a statement sent to them, called for a special week of prayer and fasting.
The body noted, “For this reason, and from July 11, priests are calling on all their brothers in ministry to join in a special week of prayer and fasting, Eucharistic adoration and recitation of the Rosary.
“We humbly call on all priests to take it very seriously without neglecting other related regulations and recommendations in their various dioceses.”
