CV NEWS FEED // The crisis of clergy abductions in Nigeria deepened this weekend with the kidnapping of two more Catholic priests, raising the total number of clergy abducted this year to 12.
On April 5, assailants abducted Father Stephen Echezona from the Diocese of Akwa, Anambra State, while he stopped to refuel his vehicle, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) reported. The Diocese of Owerri confirmed the April 6 kidnapping of Father John Ubaechu, who was taken while traveling by car in Imo State.
The incidents underscore a grim reality: Nigeria now accounts for more than 80 percent of all recorded global cases in 2025 involving the kidnapping, murder, or unjust detention of Catholic priests and religious, according to ACN.
This year has seen a significant increase in abductions. At this point in 2024, only three kidnappings had occurred, and none resulted in death. In 2023, the number was two. In 2025 so far, 12 clergy have already been seized. Among them two were murdered, Father Sylvester Okechukwu and seminarian Andrew Peter.
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While the motivations behind each abduction can vary, criminality and religious persecution are tightly intertwined, according to ACN. Some attackers are driven by hostility to Christianity. Others are motivated by profit, treating priests as high-value targets in a thriving ransom economy.
The violence also spans regional lines. Seven of the abductions this year have occurred in Nigeria’s southern, largely Christian states. Five happened in the volatile Middle Belt, where ethno-religious tensions often erupt. Of the two murders, one took place in each region.
Amid mounting frustration and grief, Nigeria’s bishops have continued to urge peace and prayer. They call on government leaders to act decisively in restoring public safety, while discouraging the faithful from seeking vigilante justice.
“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 of our diocese,” Bishop Julius Yakubu Kundi of the diocese of Kafanchan said in March.
He described the crimes as “a cruel assault on our faith, our humanity and the peace of our state.”
“How long shall our pastors and brethren be hunted like prey?” he asked. “How long shall our places of worship become grounds for fear instead of sanctuaries of hope?”
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