Catholic Church decries wave of kidnappings targeting priests, pastoral agents

Catholic Diocese of Kafanchan has expressed outrage over the kidnapping and brutal murder of Rev. Fr Sylvester Okechukwu on March 5, 2025.

The Diocese condemned the relentless wave of kidnappings targeting priests, pastoral agents, and the faithful. According to reports, the incident occurred on March 4, 2025, between 9:15 p.m. and 9:40 p.m. when Fr Okechukwu was abducted from his residence in Tachira. His lifeless body was discovered on March 5, 2025.

In a statement yesterday titled, “Righteous Indignation on the Gruesome Murder of My Son,” Bishop of Kafanchan Diocese, Most Rev. Julius Yakubu Kundi, said that the horrifying abduction and gruesome murder of Fr Okechukwu is a cruel assault on our faith, our humanity, and the peace of our state.”

Kundi observed that the murder of Fr. Okechukwu is not just an attack on the Church but a direct affront to the values of justice, peace, and human dignity.

He said: “With deep sorrow and righteous indignation, I condemn, in the strongest terms, the relentless and tragic wave of kidnappings targeting priests, pastoral agents, and the faithful. The Diocese is engulfed in anguish, and the land is heavy with anger. How long will our pastors and brethren be hunted like prey? How long shall our places of worship become grounds for fear instead of sanctuaries of hope?

“This is not an isolated tragedy. We painfully recall the murder of Catechist Raymond Ya’u on July 21, 2021, in Matyei, Zangon Kataf Council; Very Rev. Fr Johnmark Cheitnum, who was abducted and murdered on July 14, 2022, at Yadin Garu, Lere Council, Seminarian Naaman Stephen Ngofe, a 25-year-old seminarian murdered in Fadan Kamantan, Zangon Kataf Council, on September 7, 2023 and Catechist Istifanus Katunku, abducted on July 4, 2024, at Kagal, Zangon Kataf Council, whose whereabouts remain unknown. These atrocities deepen our sorrow and reinforce our demand for justice.”

The bishop also decried the abduction of so many lay faithful from Kauru to Kaura and from Lere to Zangon Kataf Councils, where criminals continue to wreak havoc on innocent lives. Kundi noted that the kidnappings have left communities in fear, disrupted livelihoods, and intensified economic hardship in an already struggling region.

He stated that the outrageous ransoms demanded for their release not only devastate families but also pose a severe threat to food security and the general well-being of the people in Kafanchan Diocese and Southern Kaduna as a whole.