By Ade Johnson-
A Catholic diocese in Nigeria’s Kaduna State has asked the faithful to pray for two of its priests who were kidnapped from the rectory of a church, bringing the number of priests kidnapped in the country this year thus far to 20.
The priests, identified as Fr. John Mark Cheitnum (pictured)and Fr. Denatus Cleopas from the diocese of Kafanchan, were kidnapped Friday from the rectory of Christ the King Catholic Church in the town of Lere in Kaduna State, Catholic News Agency reported.
The Catholic Archbishop of Nigeria’s Kaduna state released a statement on the death of Fr. Borogo, “Most Rev. Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso, the Catholic Archbishop of Kaduna condoles with the immediate family, the NFCS Family of Kaduna Polytechnic, and indeed the entire Kaduna Polytechnic Community; and assures them of his fraternal closeness and prayers.
Criminal gangs known as bandits are notorious for terrorising communities in Northwest and central Nigeria, adopting prominent individuals they abduct for ransom.
The levels of incursions in Nigeria have reached an intolerable high, with most of Africa’s populous nation not assured of security as they pursue their daily lives.
National railway rains have been stormed by wayward insurgents who blood thirsty with no conscience, and have turned Nigeria into a terror zone.
Priests John Mark Chietnum and Donatus Cleopas were seized on July 15 in a church at Yadin Gura village in Kaduna state where they had stopped for the night, said Joseph Hayab, head of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Kaduna.
On Tuesday Cleopas managed to escape from his abductors as they were leading him to a meeting point where they were expecting to receive ransom from a CAN envoy for his release.
“Reverend Father Cleopas, who escaped from his abductors, confirmed to us that his colleague Reverend Father Chietnum was killed on the day they were kidnapped,” Hayab told AFP.
“We were able to recover the body of the late priest, which has substantially decomposed, and we are going to conduct the burial tomorrow,” he said.
Hayab negotiated for days with the bandits, who initially demanded 60 million naira (an estimate £120, 686 or $145,000) for both priests.
It was “unknown to us (that) one of them had been killed,” said Hayab, adding that they had finally agreed on a “reasonable amount.” He gave no details.
The escaped priest could not reach his parish in time to inform them not to pay the ransom as he had no phone on him.
“Our dilemma now is that the bandits have detained the man sent to deliver the ransom after taking the money,” Hayab said.
Priests are “being deliberately targeted by bandits, who have in the past two years kidnapped 13 of them,” he said.
In March gunmen raided a passenger train between Nigeria’s capital Abuja and Kaduna, killing eight and taking dozens hostage.
riminal gangs known as bandits who terrorise communities in northwest and central Nigeria often target Christian clergy, among other prominent individuals they abduct for ransom.
Priests John Mark Chietnum and Donatus Cleopas were seized on July 15 in a church at Yadin Gura village in Kaduna state where they had stopped for the night, said Joseph Hayab, head of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Kaduna.
On Tuesday Cleopas managed to escape from his abductors as they were leading him to a meeting point where they were expecting to receive ransom from a CAN envoy for his release.
“Reverend Father Cleopas, who escaped from his abductors, confirmed to us that his colleague Reverend Father Chietnum was killed on the day they were kidnapped,” Hayab told AFP.
“We were able to recover the body of the late priest, which has substantially decomposed, and we are going to conduct the burial tomorrow,” he said.
Hayab negotiated for days with the bandits, who initially demanded 60 million naira (around $145,000) for both priests.
It was “unknown to us (that) one of them had been killed,” said Hayab, adding that they had finally agreed on a “reasonable amount.” He gave no details.
The escaped priest could not reach his parish in time to inform them not to pay the ransom as he had no phone on him.
“Our dilemma now is that the bandits have detained the man sent to deliver the ransom after taking the money,” Hayab said.
Priests are “being deliberately targeted by bandits, who have in the past two years kidnapped 13 of them,” he said.
Kaduna has been one of the hardest-hit states for gang attacks.
In March gunmen raided a passenger train between Nigeria’s capital Abuja and Kaduna, killing eight and taking dozens hostage.
Priests John Mark Chietnum and Donatus Cleopas were seized on July 15 in a church at Yadin Gura village in Kaduna state where they had stopped for the night, said Joseph Hayab, head of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Kaduna.
On Tuesday Cleopas managed to escape from his abductors as they were leading him to a meeting point where they were expecting to receive ransom from a CAN envoy for his release.
“Reverend Father Cleopas, who escaped from his abductors, confirmed to us that his colleague Reverend Father Chietnum was killed on the day they were kidnapped,” Hayab told AFP.
“We were able to recover the body of the late priest, which has substantially decomposed, and we are going to conduct the burial tomorrow,” he said.
Hayab negotiated for days with the bandits, who initially demanded 60 million naira (around $145,000) for both priests.
The escaped priest could not reach his parish in time to inform them not to pay the ransom as he had no phone on him.
“Our dilemma now is that the bandits have detained the man sent to deliver the ransom after taking the money,” Hayab said.
Priests are “being deliberately targeted by bandits, who have in the past two years kidnapped 13 of them,” he said.
Kaduna has been one of the hardest-hit states for gang attacks.
In March gunmen raided a passenger train between Nigeria’s capital Abuja and Kaduna, killing eight and taking dozens hostage.
“May Jesus, crucified on the Cross, listen to our prayers and hasten the unconditional release of His priests and all other kidnapped persons,” Fr. Emmanuel Uchechukwu Okolo, the diocese’s chancellor, was quoted as saying.
Three of the 20 Nigerian priests kidnapped this year were killed. The Catholic group Aid to the Church in Need says that at least seven were abducted this month alone.
The Nigerian Diocesan Catholic Priests Association has requested that priests observe a week of prayer and fasting for the clergy who continue to serve in the country, risking their lives.
“Our duty is to lay before the altar of God the gratitude, cares, worries and petitions of the faithful and ours. We are advocates of pro-life and peace,” the association said in a statement.
Last month, unidentified terrorists killed two Catholic priests in Kaduna and Edo, a month after two other priests were slain in two other districts in the West African country.
The two victims were identified as Fr. Vitus Borogo, a priest serving in the Archdiocese of Kaduna, and Fr. Christopher Odia from the Diocese of Auchi.
In May, unidentified gunmen stormed a Catholic parish in northern Nigeria and abducted two priests, identified as Fr. Stephen Ojapa and Fr. Oliver Okpara from the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, and two unidentified boys from St. Patrick Catholic Church in Gidan Maikambo area of Katsina state’s Kafur Local Government Area, Vatican News reported at the time.
Radical Islamic militants affiliated with either radical Islamic Fulani herdsmen or the Islamic State West Africa Province terrorist group also killed at least eight Christians, including children younger than 5, and wounded several others in an attack in Borno state.
Islamic extremists have been a curse to Nigeria, where there is a fear that Muslims have an ambition to take over the country and establish Sharia Law.
Last month an unreliable law was passed in the Nigerian Supreme Court, making it law for schools to allow female pupils to wear the Hijab during classes, because to disallow them would be discriminatory.
The law has bene mocked by Human Rights Lawyers, some of whom have vowed to encourage people of multiple faiths to all attend schools in the various religious garments to ridicule the foolishness of the law.