Nigeria

The Catholic Diocese of Auchi, Nigeria, is mourning the tragic death of 21-year-old major seminarian Andrew Peter, who was killed by his abductors after being kidnapped alongside a priest earlier this month.

Father Thomas Oyode, Rector of Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary in Agenebode, Edo State, Nigeria, has been kidnapped after offering himself in exchange for two abducted students.

Bishop Matthew Kukah told Bola Tinubu, the recently elected president of Nigeria, that "neither God nor history will forgive you if you fail" and that "you have no excuses before God or the people of Nigeria."

Bishop Martin said in a statement released on the day of the kidnapping, “I ask for your prayers for Father Paul Sanogo and the seminarian Melchior who were kidnapped by bandits in the early morning of August 3 at the priest’s residence in Gyedna, Niger state."

Nigerian priest shot dead after returning from pastoral duties on June 7.

On Good Friday, April 7, 2023, Muslim gunmen attacked an elementary school building in the village of Ngban that houses approximately 100 displaced Christian farmers and their families and killed dozens.

According to the Vicar General, "majority of the victims were Catholics, and the attackers were Fulanis who occupied some of the villages they had abandoned after earlier attacks.” “11 people were killed, including women and children, and many with life-threatening wounds in the hospital."

Pope Francis is urging everyone to pray for the soul of a Nigerian priest who was murdered last Sunday, and to continue to remember and pray for the many Christians who suffer violence directly, especially for the suffering people of Ukraine.

Among the charred remains of the building of Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church, the body of Father Isaac Achi was found on January 15, said the Catholic Diocese of Minna.  

Pope Francis prays for Nigeria, where devastating floods have killed over 600 people and displaced 1.4 million and have caused tremendous damage to property and critical infrastructure.

Fr. Joseph Igweagu, the Parish Priest at St. Joseph’s Parish Abata Nsugbe, was abducted on Wednesday. The Archdiocese of Onitsha asks for prayers for his safe return.

Four Reverend sisters of the Congregation of the Sister of Jesus the Savior were kidnapped along the Okigwe-Umulolo road on their way to Mass on Sunday.

The Vatican released a statement after Pope Francis learned of the attack.

Two Catholic priests were kidnapped and a Catholic rectory was attacked in northwest Nigeria on May 25, 2022.

A Nigerian Christian college student accused of blasphemy was stoned to death and later burned by mobs.

Father Joseph Akete Bako was kidnapped from his residence in St. John’s Church, Kudena, on March 8.

Three seminarians in Nigeria were abducted during a violent attack by bandits on October 11 and were released on October 13.

Gunmen kidnapped a Catholic priest in Nigeria’s Delta State on Saturday, the second kidnapping that same priest has experienced since 2018.